Karnataka: Belur Police officers to be probed over Hindutva activist's arrest

Hassan: A probe has been initiated against two police officers of Belur taluk in Karnataka over the arrest of a Hindutva activist, who had allegedly posted objectionable content on Facebook. 

Superintendent of police R Srinivasa Gowda has initiated an inquiry against two police officers, Belur circle inspector S Siddarameshwara and Arehalli sub-inspector Balu. 

According to a report on The Hindu, the probe decision comes after minister for tourism CT Ravi supported the activist and urged home minister Basavaraj Bommai to act against the police. 

Arehalli sub-inspector Balu detained Thej Kumar Shetty of Bikkodu in Belur taluk on a suo motu complaint. The charge was the content was intended to disturb harmony and hurt the religious feelings of certain sections.

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Following this, a photograph of the person in police custody had gone viral on social media. Gowda had also briefed the media on Saturday about the arrest and appealed to the public not to post or share any objectionable content on social media.

Tourism minister CT Ravi came out in support of the accused. He wanted to know what was wrong in sharing a post on Tablighi Jamaat and the spread of COVID-19. “I request my colleague Basavaraj Bommai, Home Minister, to take action against Arehalli PSI for his action against our worker,” he said in a tweet.

Within hours of his tweet, the department ordered an inquiry. The Hindu quoted Gowda saying that the accused was arrested for his Facebook post. “However, there was no need for sharing the photo of his arrest with the media. We are conducting an inquiry against the circle inspector and sub-inspector on the issue,” he added.