'Absolutely false': Karnataka DGP fact-checks Twitter user on Shivamogga murder

Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood on Monday called out propaganda on social media, which tried to link the murder of the Bajrang Dal member in the Shivamogga district to the violence in Tripura.

Karnataka DGP fact-checks Twitter user Werleman on Shivamogga murder

Team Newsable

Bengaluru, First Published Feb 21, 2022, 5:44 PM IST | Last Updated Feb 21, 2022, 5:44 PM IST

Exposing the claim made by a foreign Twitter handle, the Karnataka DGP said that there was no connection of the death (in Shivamogga) to either terrorism or Tripura.

The Twitter account whose claims were rejected as being absolutely false was identified as that of activist-journalist CJ Werleman. He had claimed that the 26-year-old who was murdered in Shivamogga was a "terrorist belonging to the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal."

He also alleged that the Bajrang Dal, which according to him has been identified by the US government as a 'militant religious outfit', carried out a wave of terrorist attacks against Muslims in Tripura in November.

Violence broke out in Shivamogga after the news of the killing of Harsha emerged. A number of vehicles were torched and windowpanes of houses were torched by miscreants following which prohibitory orders were issued in the area.

Even though there is speculation that Harsha was murdered over his Facebook posts against Hijab, the state government and senior police officials have refrained from citing that as the reason for the killing.

Werleman's remarks sparked outrage on Twitter with many tagging the microblogging site ad calling for his account to be suspended for peddling fake news. Others commended the Karnataka DGP for exposing the propaganda online.

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