PANAJI
The Crime Branch (CB) on Wednesday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against two Instagram users, who are reportedly school students, for hurting religious sentiments and circulating obscene materials through their social media posts. Having taken suo-motu cognizance of the matter, the investigation team has written to Instagram to furnish details of the accused users and pull down the derogatory remarks that could trigger communal tension in the State.
The social media users allegedly expressed their anger over the killing of the dreaded gangster duo Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, by posting derogatory comments about Hindu Gods along with the photo of the evening when the Ahmed brothers were killed in full public view despite strict police security.
The students’ insensitive remarks that emerged in the late hours of Tuesday soon went viral and were widely condemned by other social media users who called on the police to take action against them.
To avoid the possibility of communal tension, Goa Police swung into action after a Twitter user tagged the Director General of Police and North Goa Police with screenshots of offensive comments made by the two girl students on their respective Instagram accounts.
Superintendent of Police (North Goa and CB) Nidhin Valsan said that FIR under section 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) read with 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code IPC and section 67 of IT act (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) has been registered by CB. An investigation has been taken up jointly by the CB and the Cyber Crime Cell.
“We have taken suo motu cognisance of the matter, and asked the Instagram company to furnish details of the two accounts and to pull down their posts,” Valsan said.
The CB, he added, is also probing if the school mentioned on the profile page of the two girls exists in Goa. It is learnt that one of them is a non-Goan.
Sources said the accused, once identified, will soon be summoned for questioning. If arrested and underage, they will be sent to the remand home at Apna Ghar.
