Superintendent of Police R. Srinivasa Gowda has initiated an inquiry against two police officers of Belur taluk over the arrest of a Hindutva activist who had posted objectionable content on Facebook.
The probe decision comes after Minister for Tourism C.T. Ravi supported the activist and urged Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai to act against the police.
Belur circle inspector S. Siddarameshwara and Arehalli sub-inspector Balu will face the inquiry.
Mr. Balu, on Friday, arrested Thej Kumar Shetty of Bikkodu in Belur taluk on a suo motu complaint. The charge was the content was intended to disturb harmony and hurt the religious feelings of certain sections.
Following this, a photograph of the person in police custody had gone viral on social media. Mr. Gowda had also briefed the media on Saturday about the arrest and appealed to the public not to post or share any objectionable content on social media.
On Sunday, Mr. Ravi came out in support of the accused. He wanted to know what was wrong in sharing a post on Tablighi Jamaat about the spread of COVID-19. “I request my colleague Basavaraj Bommai, Home Minister, to take action against Arehalli PSI for his action against our worker,” he said in a tweet.
Within hours of his tweet, the department ordered an inquiry. Mr. Gowda told The Hindu that the accused was arrested for his Facebook post. “However, there was no need for sharing the photo of his arrest with the media. We are conducting an inquiry against the circle inspector and sub-inspector on the issue,” he added.
