Palghar again: Teen grilled over Facebook post

The controversy over the arrest of two Palghar girls over a Facebook post had not even begun to subside, when another youth from the same area in Thane district near Mumbai was questioned by police on Wednesday. HT reports.

The controversy over the arrest of two Palghar girls over a Facebook post had not even begun to subside, when another youth from the same area in Thane district near Mumbai was questioned by police on Wednesday for an allegedly “abusive” Facebook post against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.

He was eventually let off following investigations.

Sunil Vishwakarma, 19, a high school dropout is currently pursuing a computer course. On Wednesday afternoon, a group of MNS activists brought him to the local police station claiming he had posted abusive literature against their chief Raj Thackeray as well as the Marathi manoos.

HT Image

"MNS workers traced Vishwakarma and handed him to the police. We demand strict action,” said Kundan Sankhe, Thane district chief of MNS.

However, by evening it was clear that a fake account using Vishwakarma’s name had been used to post the abusive content.

A senior official said Vishwakarma is now the “complainant since he has been victimised”.

Acting SP Anil Kumbhare said a case under section 66 A of the Information Technology act has been registered against unidentified persons and police are now trying to trace the guilty.

On November 18, two girls from Palghar, Shaheen Dhadha, 21, and Rinu Shrinivasan, 20, were arrested after they posted a comment on Facebook criticising the Mumbai shutdown.

Palghar police booked the girls for hurting religious sentiments. Two officers were eventually suspended for the unlawful arrest.