CID to probe derogatory posts on ‘Manglore Muslims’ page

The social media monitoring cell of Mangaluru city police noticed posts derogatory to Harsha, the Bajrang Dal activist who was murdered in Shivamogga, on the ‘Manglore Muslims’ Facebook page on February 21

The investigation into derogatory posts on the ‘Manglore Muslims’ Facebook page has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The social media monitoring cell of Mangaluru city police noticed posts derogatory to Harsha, the Bajrang Dal activist who was murdered in Shivamogga, on the ‘Manglore Muslims’ Facebook page on February 21. Stating that the death of Harsha was because of his alleged derogatory comment on Prophet Mohammed, the post threatened Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa and a mediaperson.

The cell passed on the information to the Cyber Economics and Narcotic Crime police station, which registered a case for offences under Sections 66 (c) and 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act. Mohammed Sharief, who shared this post on Damaruga and Political Adda Facebook pages, was also named as an accused.

Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar told reporters on March 8 that a post threatening the life of a High Court judge, who is hearing the writ petition on hijab, was also found on this Facebook page and a separate case in this connection was registered in Bengaluru.

Mr. Kumar said investigation has revealed that the persons handling the Facebook page were in West Asian countries. “The CID will co-ordinate with other investigation agencies in tracing and booking the accused,” he said.

The order for transfer of the two cases to the CID was issued by Director General and Inspector General of Police Praveen Sood on February 28.

Following derogatory posts about Kateel Durga Parameshwari and threats to a few journalists, the Ministry of Home Affairs told Facebook to pull down ‘Mangalore Muslims’ Facebook page in 2016. The derogatory posts are now found on the ‘Manglore Muslims’ Facebook page.