The Central police on Friday arrested a person on charge of putting up a communally-loaded post on Facebook about a 16-day-old infant with cardiac problems being shifted to a private hospital in the city from Mangaluru for treatment.
The arrested was identified as Binil Somasundaram of Kothamangalam.
He was picked up from a lodge in Idukki, where he was hiding after a case was registered against him at the instance of District Police Chief (Kochi City) S. Surendran for his offensive Facebook post.
The accused had later deleted the post and claimed that his Facebook account was hacked.
He has been slapped with Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), and 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to a senior police officer, the accused is the State joint secretary of the Hindu Helpline and had worked with the Sangh Parivar in Karnataka for two years. “He had been in Sabarimala for the last six months and may have taken part in the violent protests there following the apex court order regarding the entry of women into the temple. We will verify the videos and photos and if found guilty will slap him with the relevant charges,” he said.
