The Belthangady police in Dakshina Kannada registered a case against a group of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activists on charges of raising pro-Pakistan slogans outside the counting centre in Ujire on Wednesday.
A 54-second video clip showing a group of people carrying flags of the SDPI and raising pro-Pakistan slogans went viral on social media in the afternoon. The slogans in support of Pakistan are heard amid the counting centre authorities making announcement regarding counting of votes related to Mundaje Gram Panchayat in Belthangady Taluk.
In a statement, Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police B.M. Laxmi Prasad said that the police have taken cognisance of the video clipping. A case was registered against 15 SDPI activists for offences under Sections 124 (A) (sedition) and 143 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code. He has asked people to provide to the Police Control Room (9480805300) the videos that help in investigation of the case.
Denying the allegations, Hyder Ali, president of SDPI Belthangady Assembly unit, said SDPI activists raised slogans in support of the party on victory of candidates supported by the party. “The activists said ‘SDPI zindabad’ and not ‘Pakistan zindabad’,” he claimed. Mr. Ali said SDPI activists love their motherland and there was no question of raising slogans in support of an enemy country.
