Karnataka:Two arrested for hate speech in social media post, say police

The accused posted videos on TikTok and Instagram threatening to behead those who insult Prophet Mohammad.

Mysuru Two men were arrested over alleged hate speech and sharing it on social media in Yadgir district, police said on Wednesday.

Two men were arrested over alleged hate speech and sharing it on social media in Yadgir district (Representational Image)

According to the police, the accused were identified as Akbar Syed Bahadur Ali (23) and Mohammad Ayaz (22). The two posted videos on TikTok and Instagram threatening to behead those who insult Prophet Mohammad.

The videos were brought to the attention of police by a man named Neeraj Atri, who tagged the Prime Minister in a tweet. Few twitter users also tagged DGP of Karnataka in the post, and urged the DGP to take stringent action against them. Following this, a suo motu case was registered against the accused at the Yadagiri rural police station and they were arrested on the late on Tuesday, officers said.

In the video clip, the accused is heard saying, “We belong to Sunnathe Jamaat. This is what we are taught from childhood. Face all difficulties in life. But if anyone insults Prophet Mohammed, behead them.”

The accused further said in the video, “Those who grab girls and call themselves men, if you are men, come to the field. How much do those who commit atrocities on Muslims, those who target Muslims? The Quran is very clear. Kafir (non-Muslim), in the end, your place is hell”.

The video clip grabbed the attention of the people in the district and it was widely shared on social media.

“Soon after the clip came to our notice, we registered a case against the two accused and arrested them,” Yadgir SP Dr C B Vedamurthy told HT. He said the accused were booked under sections 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and 505 (making, publishing, circulating communal hatred) at the Yadgir rural police station. He said accused Bahadur Ali was working in Kohinoor Solar Company while Ayaz was running a chicken shop. “Both the accused posted videos on social media threatening communal harmony. Further investigation is going on.”