Mahalingapuram Police in Pollachi have registered a case against a DMK youth wing leader in the town and 21 others on charges of spreading rumours online about Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s health.
The police had registered the case on October 15 invoking provisions of the Indian Penal Code (promoting enmity and making statements conducing to public mischief) against the youth wing leader R. Navaneetha Krishnan, Rajiv Gandhi, and 20 others based on a Facebook post by Mr. Krishnan.
AIADMK’s Pollachi Town Secretary V. Krishnakumar had lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. Police said that Mr. Krishnakumar had said that the Facebook post, since deleted, was bad in taste and that had tried to misguide people about Chief Minister’s health.
Mr. Krishnan said that what he had posted was a message forwarded to him on another social networking site.
Soon after he posted the message on October 13, a few people from the I.T. Wing of the AIADMK had abused him online.
Even as the tirade continued, a few friends from the rival party had cautioned him about a possible police complaint and had suggested that he remove the post.
‘Post deleted’
Based on their suggestion, he had immediately deleted the post.
But then he had learnt that the AIADMK I.T. Wing members had taken screen shots of his post and used that to complain against him, Mr. Krishnan added.
The Police said that they had registered the case but hadn’t yet arrested the accused.
The case comes close on the heels of the arrest of a bank clerk and a jewel appraiser of the Thondamuthur branch of Canara Bank based on a complaint filed by an AIADMK functionary.
The case comes close on the heels of the arrest of two for their comments on CM’s health
