Man arrested for posting defamatory content; Sainiks blacken his face

Abhijit Limaye was arrested from his Mumbai residence, brought to Pune and produced before a court which granted him bail on Sunday. As he was released, Sena supporters who were gathered outside the court premises allegedly hurled abuses at him and blackened his face

The cyber cell of Pune Police have arrested Abhijit Limaye (35) for posting defamatory content on social media against Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, late Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, officials said on Monday.

Representational Image.

Limaye was arrested from his Mumbai residence, brought to Pune and produced before a court which granted him bail on Sunday. As he was released, Sena supporters gathered outside the Shivajinagar district court premises allegedly hurled abuses at him and blackened his face.

The FIR was registered by the Cyber police station on May 13 against a social media handle by the name of ‘Lakhoba Lokhande’ for posting objectionable posts against CM Uddhav Thackeray, Balasaheb Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. After technical analysis, his identity was established and Limaye was arrested by the cyber cell authorities, an official said.

Accordingly, Limaye was charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. The video of the men blackening Limaye’s face later went viral.