The Bengaluru cybercrime police have booked cow vigilante and murder accused Hindutva activist Puneeth Kerehalli and his associates for allegedly spreading false information against Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) MA Saleem. Puneeth had accused Saleem of providing shelter to illegal Bangladeshi migrants.
According to the FIR, Kerehalli and his group alleged that people from Bangladesh had been trafficked and brought to a property belonging to one Sakina Tasleem. They further claimed that the property was a ‘benami’ asset of police officer MA Saleem.
“The group went live on social media and falsely stated that Bangladeshi Muslims had taken shelter in Bengaluru. The claims made by the group are provocative in nature and could create social and communal unrest,” the FIR said, according to The Hindu.
The incident came to light on January 23 when the social media monitoring cell of the Bengaluru City Police noticed the video circulating on Facebook and other platforms. Following this, a police officer filed a complaint at the City Cybercrime Police Station.
Police said the accused live-streamed the incident and widely circulated the video on social media.
Based on the complaint, the accused have been booked under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence or language) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Information Technology Act. The investigation is ongoing.
This is the third FIR registered against Kerehalli in the last ten days.
Earlier, on January 16, the Bannerghatta police arrested Kerehalli for allegedly trespassing into a house and threatening the owner for renting out the property to migrant tenants, whom he claimed were illegal immigrants.