Clamp down continues on rumour-mongers

Interestingly, police said only one of them was booked for posting the statement while the rest were booked for liking or sharing it on their Facebook page. This case has been registered in less than two days after the Coimbatore district police attracted heavy criticism for arresting two bank employees on charges of talking ill about the Chief Minister’s health in a manner that offended the complainant, who turned out to be an AIADMK functionary. 

On the latest case registered on Saturday night, police said that it was based on a complaint lodged by the chairman of Pollachi municipality V Krishnakumar who is also the town secretary of the AIADMK. The Coimbatore district youth wing secretary of DMK and councillor of Ward  8 in Pollachi Municipality, Navaneethakrishnan was named as the prime accused in the case.

Navaneethakrishnan and those who liked his post and shared it were booked under sections 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 505 (2) (spreading rumors with an intent to cause riot, create panic among general public and cause disturbance to public order) of the Indian Penal Code. However, no arrest was made in connection with the case till Sunday evening. Police said that most of them have gone underground and they were trying to locate them for questioning.

DMK men targeted: Stalin Meanwhile DMK treasurer M K Stalin on Sunday condemned ‘harassment’ of his party cadre under the pretext of taking action against those spreading rumours about Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s health on social media and asked police to immediately stop such ‘oppressive’ measures. In a statement here, he alleged that acting on ‘false’ complaints by AIADMK IT Wing personnel and other party functionaries, the Cyber Crime police was summoning the DMK members, harassing them and threatening to block their social media accounts. “We will never tolerate police targeting DMK men under the guise that they were spreading rumours on social media. I strongly condemn the police action,” Stalin said. 

Police should immediately stop taking action targeting DMK men on social media based on the complaints by AIADMK, he said, noting that seven persons had been arrested and 50 cases filed on complaints of alleged spreading of rumours about Jayalalithaa’s health on social media. Stalin, who recently visited the Apollo Hospitals to inquire about the health status of the Chief Minister, said, “Like every person’s wish for the betterment of Jayalalithaa, it is also our desire for her speedy recovery.” “It is not fair that the police are taking action targeting the DMK men despite the party’s legal wing filing a complaint with Greater Chennai Police Commissioner and to the DGP of Tamil Nadu on the issue,” he said.