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Political slugfest after man held in Goa over false posts on Cong poll manifesto
Following the arrest of Vinit Naik, the BJP accused the Congress government of creating an atmosphere of intolerance
A 48-year-old man has been arrested in Goa by the Karnataka police for allegedly publishing false posts about the Congress election manifesto, sparking a political controversy as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have accused the state government of misusing its power.
The cybercrime police in Bengaluru arrested Vinit Naik known by his online alias “Bhiku Mhatre,” on Saturday. The arrest was in connection with a tweet he posted on April 22. He allegedly wrote on X, “Though the Congress manifesto does not specifically mention Muslims, it takes away wealth from Hindus and distributes it to Muslims because it hates Hindus, including SCs and STs.” The post has now been deleted.
Following Vinit’s arrest, his son, Nagesh Naik, said in a post on X: “My father has been arrested by the Karnataka police. I received a message from Twitter. Suddenly, in the evening, the police came to my door and dragged my father away. The FIR is not reasonable.”
The arrest has prompted a strong reaction from the BJP leaders. They have pledged to provide legal assistance to the accused. The leaders have also accused the Congress government of creating an atmosphere of intolerance.
BJP national media chief Amit Malaviya said: “Karnataka Police has arrested ‘Mumbaicha Don’ from Goa. We are in touch with his family. We will ensure that he gets all the legal help. The Congress has created anarchy. It is showing intolerance against dissent. But there will never be another emergency in the country.”
BJP MP Tejaswi Surya said: “The Karnataka Congress government is blatantly misusing power. We will fight against it both inside and outside the court.”
Police said: ’The arrest followed a complaint filed by a Congress worker, J Saravanan, residing in Bengaluru on April 29. We registered a case under IPC section 153(a) and Section 66(c) of the Information Technology Act and initiated action.”
Prior to his arrest, Vinit had shared the notice he received from X, which stated that an order had been issued against him by the Bengaluru city magistrate court. The notice read, “As per the court order, ‘X’ needs to provide your account details. We cannot give you legal advice. We advise you to seek legal help yourself in this matter.”
In response to the legal notice, Vinit asserted his determination to fight the charges. He said: “The Congress seems to want to threaten me for telling the truth. I am ready to fight any injustice. I will use all judicial processes, even if it means going to the higher court. I have not written anything inflammatory or communally hateful.”
