As Bengaluru continues to navigate delicate linguistic fault lines, a man has been arrested for allegedly making abusive and derogatory comments against the Kannada language and its speakers during a phone conversation with a delivery executive.
The incident took place on July 17, when Ranjith Mathew, a delivery partner for an online platform, contacted a customer named Mithun Sarkar to confirm the delivery address for a T-shirt, news agency PTI reported. What began as a routine call reportedly took an ugly turn.
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According to Mathew’s police complaint, Sarkar responded in Hindi and allegedly began hurling verbal abuse, including offensive remarks targeting the Kannada language, the state of Karnataka, and its people. Sarkar, originally from Tripura, has been living in Bengaluru for nine years.
According to a report by Times of India, he said, 'If 70 percent of Hindi people leave Karnataka, you will not have ₹10 to buy tomatoes.
{{/usCountry}}According to a report by Times of India, he said, 'If 70 percent of Hindi people leave Karnataka, you will not have ₹10 to buy tomatoes.
{{/usCountry}}Sarkar was arrested on Thursday night and taken into custody by the Bommanahalli police. He told officers that he had been intoxicated at the time of the call, a claim that investigators are currently verifying.
Police have booked Sarkar under sections 196(1)(a) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertain to promoting enmity between groups based on language and committing intentional insult likely to provoke a breach of peace.
“A formal investigation is underway. The accused has cited alcohol consumption, but we’re probing the truth of that statement,” said a senior police official familiar with the case.
The arrest comes at a time when debates around language, regional identity, and inclusion are resurfacing in Karnataka’s capital, a melting pot of cultures, but also a city where linguistic sensitivities often run high.
(With agency inputs)
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