Six cases booked over provocative SM posts

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district police registered six separate cases in two days against individuals accused of posting derogatory, obscene, and inflammatory content on social media platforms. The complaints, lodged at Belthangady and Venur police stations on Tuesday and Wednesday, allege that the accused targeted religious communities, posted obscene remarks, incited violence, and promoted caste-based enmity through Facebook and YouTube.In one case, Ajith Nagappa Basapur,32, of Chabbi village, Hubballi, alleged that activist Girish Mattennavar of Ujire, Belthangady, made insulting remarks about the Jain religion and its followers during an interview with the ‘Kudla Rampage' YouTube channel. The channel's owner allegedly uploaded the video, hurting the religious sentiments of Jains. Belthangady police booked the duo under Sections 196(1)(A) and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.In another complaint, Vijaya,41, of Belthangady, said she found an obscene post related to the Sowjanya case on a Facebook account named ‘Vikas Vicky Hindu.' Venur police registered a case under Section 296 of BNS. Similarly, Dhananjay Jain,47, of Belthangady, alleged that a Facebook account titled ‘Enri Gowdre' posted obscene messages. Venur police booked the case under Section 296 of BNS.On Aug 13, Prabhakar Gowda,51, of Belthangady, alleged that a Facebook user, "Lawyer Jagadeesh," posted a video related to the ongoing exhumation work in Dharmasthala, as part of the alleged mass burial case, allegedly inciting the public to commit offences by promoting unlawful assembly and use of deadly weapons. Belthangady police registered a case under Section 57 read with Sections 189(6) and 191(3) of BNS.In another case, the same complainant alleged that Lokesh Poojary posted messages on Facebook about Koti Chennaya, which could incite caste-based enmity and spread false rumours. Police booked the case under Section 353(2) of BNS at the Belthangady police station .In another case, Uday Poojary, 41, of Belthangady, alleged that Naveen Jain uploaded videos on YouTube, encouraging people to unlawfully assemble and commit offences that could disturb public peace. A case was registered under Section 57 read with Sections 189 and 190 of BNS at the Belthangady police station.Police said investigations are ongoing in all six cases.

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