Following the Nagpur violence on March 17, the Nagpur Police have filed a case of sedition against the mastermind of the riot, Fahim Khan, and five others. Khan, already arrested, has been remanded to judicial custody until March 20.
Nagpur Cyber Crime Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Lohit Matani said the sedition case was registered after a number of people supported the violence and hailed the police attack. Some of them issued provocative statements that again fueled the unrest. Matani said the police are monitoring more than 300 social media accounts associated with the riots, and 140 accounts were discovered to have objectionable posts and videos. The case is still under investigation, and the authorities are registering cases against the culprits who shared this material.
Much of the objectionable content was linked to pages beyond Nagpur, and part of it might have originated abroad. The police are probing the possibility of any link to overseas entities, including one from Bangladesh, though they made it clear that a mere reference to Bangladesh in a post does not mean it has anything to do with it.
Fahim Khan's social media pages have also been examined, and objectionable content was discovered. Consequently, a case has been also registered in the cyber wing for his internet activities. Notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 have been given to counter spread of inflammatory messages, which insist upon the instantaneous removal of these posts on websites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Further, Section 94 notices under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 have been sent to identify the people operating these accounts.
Up to now, four FIRs have been registered related to the Nagpur riots, with more than 50 charges. Additional FIRs are to be lodged as the probe continues. The police have assured taking stringent legal action against the culprits behind posting offensive material and inciting violence.
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