AIADMK IT Wing member Prem Kumar has filed a police complaint against seven Twitter handles for tweets and memes mocking the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
In an FIR registered by the Central Crime Branch police on Tuesday, it has been stated that the Twitter users mentioned in the FIR had posted derogatory statements about the TN Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami affecting his image. One of the Twitter handles mentioned in the complaint belongs to Hari Prabakaran, who was a member of the AIADMK IT Wing and was expelled from the party in May for making derogatory comments about journalists.
“Their post is a fraudulent mischief purported to cause distress among the public and party members,” read the FIR.
The handles mentioned in the FIR are Thalapathy Jaga (@ThalapathyjaGa5), Hari Prabakaran (@HariIndic), Doha Talkies (@dohatalkies), Meena (@Meena0hrd), #AdmkFails (@admkfails), Mahesh (@Mahesh_SPK) and RajaBekarChem (@RajasekarAsho7).
The tweets and memes mentioned in the FIR did not use abusive language, but had portrayed the CM as a thief. One meme asked people to spit on the CM, another portrayed him as a puppet of PM Modi who was colluding with the police during the Sterlite shootouts.
A case has been registered under sections 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (1) (b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility), 505 (2) (Statements conducing to public mischief), 506 (1) (Criminal intimidation), and 507 (Criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) of the IPC.