E-Paper
Sangvi murder: Police act against social media accounts
The police have filed an FIR against 18 social media accounts while 103 videos on TikTok and 37 posts on Facebook were reported to the respective social media site as well till June 18
The murder of Viraj Jagtap (20) in Pimple Saudagar area of Pimpri Chinchwad has led to an online outrage among the protesters of caste-discrimination even as the online activism has attracted attention from police who have initiated action against various social media accounts for provocative messages with caste overtones.
The police have filed an FIR against 18 social media accounts while 103 videos on TikTok and 37 posts on Facebook were reported to the respective social media site as well till June 18. Of the 103 posts on TikTok, 67 were deleted whereas on Facebook, 12 of the 37 posts were deleted, according to the police.
The Maharashtra State Cyber Cell has also served warning notices under Section 149 of Code of Criminal Procedure to some, according to an official of Pimpri-Chinchwad police.
“We have registered a case against 18 handles from various locations for posts against the girl who as per the police complaint was in love with the girl from accused’s family. The case is registered at Sangvi police station as the complaint is from the jurisdiction,” said Vinayak Dhakane of Zone-2 of Pimpri Chinchwad police.
Six people, including two minors, were booked and arrested on June 8 a day after murder of Jagtap. The police booked accused for the murder while invoking Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 after the deceased man’s uncle told the police that the assailants were “motivated by caste-differences”.
Inflammatory posts related to the murder made on various social media from over 15 districts in Maharashtra were reported by the Pimpri Chinchwad police to the office of Additional Director General of Police, law and order, Maharashtra.
“The information was provided to ADG (law and order) and through them it was forwarded to the respective district,” said Sudhir Hiremath, Deputy commissioner of police, Pimpri Chinchwad police.
The case has also landed on the radar of State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh who visited the deceased man’s family on Friday to pay condolence.
According to a statement issued by his office, he said, “Some anti-social elements had tried to give a castist angle to the murder. However, the family members of Viraj have ensured that these elements do not succeed. Sabhudrabai (Viraj’s grandmother) has come forward in front of her entire village and urged people to not make inflamatory posts.”
More IP addresses are being provided to the ADG (law and order) office as they are getting detected, according to DCP Hiremath.
Based on the information provided by the Pimpri Chinchwad police, cases against these account holders have been registered in Pune city, Pune rural, Pimpri Chinchwad, Ahmmednagar, and Beed among other places so far.
Meanwhile the home minister has handed over a cheque of Rs 4.12 lakh to the grandmother of the deceased man. The six men are in police custody.
