A special team of the Kozhikode City police has arrested a youth from Malappuram district on the charge of sedition for posting a disparaging comment on Facebook about martyred NSG commando Lt. Colonel E.K. Niranjan Kumar, who died while fighting terrorists at the Pathankot Air Force base on Sunday.
The team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (North) Jossy Cherian, arrested Anwar Sadhik, 24, from this house at Kodur, near Perinthalmanna, early Tuesday. The accused, who claimed to be working in Madhyamam, a Malayalam newspaper run by the Ideal Publications Trust of the Islamic Jamaat-Islamic Hind, was charged with Section 124 A Sedition (whoever by words, either by spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government) of the Indian Penal Code.
In fact, it was the trust secretary Farook who had filed a complaint with the Chevayur police after taking note of the comment on Facebook and told the police that the accused was not an employee of the daily, Mr. Cherian said.
Anwar, a helper at a ration shop, was produced before the First Class Judicial Magistrate’s Court here and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
If convicted, he would face life imprisonment.
The comment of Anwar on the Pravasi Shabdam Facebook post went like this: “So one more trouble goes. Now his wife will be offered a job and financial assistance. Ordinary people get nothing. A rotten democracy.”
Mr. Cherian told The Hindu that the assistance of the cyber cell of the State police had been sought after the complaint was received.
The address and telephone numbers of the accused had been traced by midnight. But soon the user name was changed to Anu Anwar and after his arrest, the Facebook account, which had a girl child as profile picture, had also been deleted.
Further investigations are being carried out to ascertain whether more people or any other organisation is involved in the case.