The Karnataka Cyber Crime Police arrested a social media user operating under the handle @MumbaichaDon for sharing an edited video of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and for posting a tweet targeting the Muslim community. The user, who goes by the moniker Bhiku Mhatre, inspired by a character portrayed by Manoj Bajpayee in the 1998 crime thriller Satya, was taken into custody on Saturday, May 18.
The arrest followed a complaint filed by a Congress worker named J Saravanan from Bengaluru on April 29. According to the complaint, the user 'BhikuMhatre' posted an edited clip of the Chief Minister's statement on reservation for minorities and was accompanied with objectionable comments. The complaint says this was done to incite enmity and hatred among communities and to tarnish the reputation of the Congress party. The police registered a case against the user under section 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66(c) of the Information Technology Act.
The tweet made by the user on April 22, which has since been deleted, said, “Throw this in the face of Every Liberal & Every Piddi who was arguing that CONgress Manifesto doesn’t mention ‘Mu$£ims’ specifically & it includes SC/STs Also. CONgress WANTS TO TAKE AWAY WEALTH FROM HINDUS & DISTRIBUTE TO MU$£IMS ‘ONLY’ AS IT HATES HINDUS INCL. SC/STs.”
The arrest occurred in Ponda, a city in South Goa. Hours before his arrest, Bhiku Mhatre shared a screenshot of an email from X's legal team, indicating that a court order had been received from the Magistrate of Bengaluru City regarding his account. The user claimed that he had "never" posted anything that could be deemed inflammatory or communal, accusing the Congress party of attempting to "intimidate" him for "speaking truth."
The BJP meanwhile slammed the Karnataka Congress government for the arrest and claimed that the arrest was an abuse of power. Several leaders of the BJP spoke in favour of Bhiku Mhatre and said that legal support would be offered to him.
BJP’s IT cell chief, Amit Malviya, said “Karnataka Police has arrested @MumbaichaDon from Goa. We are in touch with his family and will ensure he gets all legal support. Congress has unleashed anarchy and is intolerant of dissent. But there won’t be another #Emergency in this country, ever.”