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Chikkamagaluru police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly circulating a video of a Tipu Sultan cutout accompanied by a song containing a reference to Pakistan, Superintendent of Police Chikkamagaluru, Jitendra Kumar Dayama, said.
The SP clarified that the issue was not about the installation of the Tipu Sultan cutout itself, saying such a cutout had been put up at Tipunagara in the same place, at the same time and with the same dimensions as in previous years. According to Dayama, police had earlier instructed organisers that they could continue with the arrangements they had been making for the past five to 10 years, but no new cutouts or decorations would be permitted. He said the issue arose around 5-5.30 pm today, when someone placed the cutout in the background of a video and added a song containing a word referring to "Pakistan" and "Mujahid". The video was subsequently circulated through different social media accounts and came to the attention of the police. Police registered an FIR under Sections 196 and 299, the SP said. The police subsequently traced the account that first circulated the video and arrested a 23-year-old local resident of Tipunagara, and were presenting him before the magistrate. Dayama said the arrested man had allegedly shared the content through his WhatsApp status, sent direct messages to some Instagram accounts and other individuals, and uploaded a reel on his Instagram account. Police are investigating the role of others who may have watched, shared or recirculated the content. "We are still in the process of ascertaining their role. If someone else also with intention did the same, then we will definitely arrest them and produce them," Dayama said. The SP said police were also attempting to identify the person who originally created the video. A request has been sent to Meta to obtain the relevant IP address, and efforts are underway to trace the original account. Dayama said the situation in Chikkamagaluru remained peaceful and that police had spoken to community leaders. He said action would be taken against those attempting to create disturbances. He added that the police social media monitoring teams at the district and police station levels were closely monitoring the situation. More than 300 Home Guards, four Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) platoons and local police personnel have been mobilised to maintain security, he said, adding that the forces would continue monitoring the situation during the function and the upcoming procession. "Everything is peaceful, everything is calm, and this function will go on," Dayama said. (ANI)
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