PANAJI
As the political discourse heats up in the midst of the ongoing Lok Sabha election season, social media platforms are increasingly becoming the battleground where workers of rival political parties spar and at times fight pitched battles sometimes over sensitive issues which could land them in trouble with the long arm of law.
In one such case that has got top national leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Union Minister Smriti Irani and Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya all riled up, a man from Ponda here in Goa has fallen in the net of the Bengaluru Cyber Cell police, booked under stringent sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also the Information Technology (IT) Act.
'Biku Mhaitre' who lives in Ponda and goes by the cyber name @MumbaichaDon was picked up by the Karnataka police from his home on Saturday.
Mhaitre had last month posted a message on his social media handle in which he attacked the Congress, alleging that its manifesto says that it will take wealth from the Hindus and give it to the Muslims.
His '@MumbaichaDon' handle had a post in April which said: "Congress wants to take away wealth from Hindus and distribute it to Muslims because it hates Hindus'.
The post has since been deleted but 'Bhiku Mhatre' was arrested on Saturday night on the basis of a complaint lodged by a Congress worker in Karnataka on April 29 with the Bangalore Cyber Crime police.
An FIR was registered against the said Twitter user under section 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code and 66(c) of the Information Technology Act.
On Saturday morning itself, 'Bhiku Mhatre' posted about his imminent arrest admitting that he had received a 'notice' from the Bengaluru City Magistrate in which he has been asked to provide information about his Twitter account and was also advised to seek legal advice.
In yet another post apparently prior to his arrest, he indicated that he would fight back saying in another post thus: "You can't pressure me like this, I didn't hurt anyone's sentiments, I analyzed in depth the same things that were written in your manifesto. If necessary, I will also knock on the door of the Highest Court against this injustice."
