Madhya Pradesh man booked for Facebook post against Rajnath Singh, local MP and collector

The accused wrote an angry post about member of Parliament Jyoti Dhruve ‘fake’ caste certificate, saying that if collector Shashank Mishra didn’t take any action, he would kill Mishra and himself.

Police in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul have booked a man for allegedly posting a message on Facebook threatening to kill the district collector if he did not act against a “fake” member of Parliament and writing objectionable comments against Union home minister Rajnath Singh, officials said on Thursday.

A file photo of Union home minister Rajnath Singh. (Hindustan Times)

Sources said a first information report was lodged against Nimish Sariyam in the evening on Wednesday after administrative and police authorities took a decision in this regard.

Rajesh Sahu, the town inspector at Kotwali police station, said Sariyam was charged with threat of injury to a public servant, criminal intimidation and sending offensive messages through communication service under the Indian Penal Code and information technology act. He is yet to be arrested.

Sariyam posted the message on his Facebook page on Tuesday, saying if Shashank Mishra didn’t ensure that Jyoti Dhruve, a legislator from Betul, was sent to jail and the rights to “genuine tribal” restored he would kill the collector and himself within a month.

Dhruve’s caste certificate stating that she is a tribal was scrapped by a high-level scrutiny committee of the state government on April 1, 2017. However, the committee that was set up in 2016 at the direction of the Madhya Pradesh high court later took up the matter for a review.