One of the two men of Kashmiri origin booked by Bengaluru police on charges of sedition for allegedly voicing support for the recent Pulwama attack which killed 40 CRPF jawans, has been arrested.
Bagalur police on Saturday arrested Thahir Shazad Latif, a 22-year-old engineering student, for his posts on his Facebook page which allegedly “taunted and ridiculed” the army by posting images hailing the terror attack.
DCP North East Kala Krishnaswamy told The Hindu that the accused was sent to judicial custody by a local court on Saturday evening. He has been charged with sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity between different groups.
This comes after HAL Police had earlier registered an FIR against Abid Malik, believed to be a resident of Bengaluru, for his messages on Facebook which allegedly support the attackers and criticised the Indian Army in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. He was also booked under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act along with criminal conspiracy. The FIR was registered on the basis of a compliant by Girish Bharadwaj.
Soon after the news of terror attack was reported on Friday, Bengaluru City police commissioner’s office, the cyber crime cell and the social media accounts got many messages seeking action against Aabid. However, after preliminary investigation police found that he left the city six months ago.
“We have traced his location to Jammu and he is no longer in the city. We are investigating into the content on his Facebook post which showed the Indian Army in bad taste and celebrated the dastardly attack,” an investigating officer told The New Indian Express on Saturday.
Another senior police officer said, “We have received more than 150 calls and emails and Twitter tags since morning. We have passed on the information to the cyber crime department to investigate further. Meanwhile, his Facebook post has been pulled down.”