Mumbai man booked for ‘offensive’ Facebook comment against Sena founder Bal Thackeray

Mumbai city news: While Ahmed Shaikh, a resident of a slum in Kandivli, has not been arrested, he was charged based on a complaint by one Lalsingh Rajpurohit, a builder.

The Kandivli police booked a man on Thursday for hurting religious sentiments over a comment he made on Facebook against Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. While Ahmed Shaikh, a resident of a slum in Kandivli, has not been arrested, he was charged based on a complaint by one Lalsingh Rajpurohit, a builder.

While his friend had put a photo of Thackeray and written a post praising the late leader’s stand against terrorism, Shaikh commented with abuses. (HT)

In his complaint to the police, Rajpurohit said he noticed Shaikh’s derogatory comment on a friend’s Facebook post expressing outrage over the Amarnath yatra terror attack. While his friend had put a photo of Thackeray and written a post praising the late leader’s stand against terrorism, Shaikh commented with abuses.

While the police now plan to summon both – the man who put up the post and Shaikh – for questioning, a case has been registered against the later under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings”.

Mukund Pawar, senior inspector at Kandivli police station, they will decide on the further course of action only after they investigate further.

This is not the first time that police have registered an offence over a Facebook post about Thackeray. In November 2012, the Palghar police arrested two college-going girls – Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan – for expressing anguish over a bandh after the leader’s death. They were booked under the controversial Section 66a of the Indian IT Act 2002, but charges against them had to be dropped after nationwide outrage. The state government even suspended two police personnel in the case.