By TNM Staff
Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, R Ashoka, have been booked by the police for making alleged provocative statements on social media following the communal riots in Nagamangala town, Mandya district. Both the leaders have been charged under Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with “wanton provocation with the intent to cause a riot.”
The complaints were filed by M Ramesha, a police officer attached to the intelligence wing of the Nagamangala Town police station. The complainant said that the accused’s social media posts were aimed at “inciting unrest” after communal violence erupted during a Ganesh idol immersion procession in the town on September 11.
Shobha is accused of sharing misleading photographs on her X account on September 13. The FIR claims that despite the situation being under control, Shobha posted photos from elsewhere and claimed they were from Nagamangala. She also shared pictures of a police officer hugging a Ganesha idol and falsely claimed that the idol had been “arrested.” The police officer said that the post sought to “provoke societal unrest by presenting a false narrative of the events” in Nagamangala.
R Ashoka also faces accusations of posting unrelated videos on X, purportedly depicting violence in Nagamangala during the Ganesh Visarjan procession. The FIR claims that upon investigation, the footage was found to be unrelated to the incidents of violence on September 11 in the town. Ashoka’s posts allegedly aimed to incite further communal tension by suggesting that the events were part of a broader communal conspiracy.
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com. Read the full story here.