'F*** the police': Bengaluru artist in legal soup over controversial tattoo on Instagram
According to the complaint filed by sub-inspector Chethan SG, social media in-charge of Cubbon Park police station, when he was checking social media posts around 10 pm on Tuesday, he found a photo of a person with the words ‘F*** the police’ tattooed on the right side of his chest.
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FollowA city tattoo artist is facing consequences after posting an offensive tattoo of cops on Instagram Stories. Following a report of the tattoo on the city police's X handle, Ritesh Aghariya, 41, the CEO of Tattoo Sutra on Brigade Road, was the subject of a suo motu complaint filed by Cubbon Park police. According to the complaint filed by sub-inspector Chethan SG, social media in-charge of Cubbon Park police station, when he was checking social media posts around 10 pm on Tuesday, he found a photo of a person with the words ‘F*** the police’ tattooed on the right side of his chest.
Chethan looked over the information right away and discovered that the picture had been posted to the "Tattoo.Sutra" page on Instagram Stories. The story was screenshotted by @TilakSadive and shared on X with the caption, "@BlrCityPolice pls have a look," tagging the city police handle.
Chethan immediately alerted his senior officers about it and, on their instructions, filed a complaint. He further stated that uploading such photos on social media was abusive in nature and a dishonour to the police department. The same night, police registered a non-cognizable report over the derogatory tattoo.
"We took permission from the 41st magistrate court and registered the FIR the next day," a senior police officer stated. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, Section 352 (intentional insult with purpose to cause breach of peace) is the section under which the FIR is lodged.
The officer continued, “We detained the accused for interrogation and instructed him to appear before the investigation officer when summoned again. Since the offence has less than seven years’ punishment, we didn’t put him behind bars. Ritesh confessed to having uploaded the photo on Instagram Stories. He said a foreigner had visited his shop and got that tattoo on his chest. He was checking some old photos and uploaded the picture by mistake. He further claimed he doesn’t remember more details of the customer.”
