Chhattisgarh police issue notices to eight BJP functionaries for ''hateful'' social media posts

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh police has issued notices to eight Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries in the Congress-ruled state for allegedly posting hateful content on social media, and asked them to appear before it, an official said. The notices were issued on Friday, he said. "In the notices, these BJP functionaries have been asked to appear before the police and present factual statements related to such posts," Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal said on Friday.

The eight functionaries comprise BJP spokesperson Sanjay Shrivastava, IT cell in-charge of BJP Chhattisgarh's Twitter handle Sunil Pillai, treasurer Nandan Jain, BJP trade cell president Kedarnath Gupta, BJP Yuva Morcha Mandal president Yogi Sahu, divisional Yuva Morcha coordinator Kamal Sharma, DD Nagar BJP Yuva Morcha member Shubhankar and party worker Bittu Panigrahi.

The Congress had, on April 12, filed a complaint with the Raipur police claiming that their social media posts were spreading hate. As per the police notice, these posts by the BJP members allegedly used derogatory terms for Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in connection with the communal violence in Biranpur in the state's Bemetara district. The notices were issued as per a Supreme Court order dated October 21 last year directing action against hate speeches, police said.

After a fight among schoolchildren, violence rocked Biranpur village, some 100 kilometres from state capital Raipur on April 8, leading to the death of 22-year-old Bhuneshwar Sahu and injuries to three policemen. Two houses were burnt during the statewide 'bandh' (shutdown) called by right-wing organisations on April 10, while the bodies of villagers Rahim Mohammad and his son Idul Mohammad were found with multiple injuries at a murum mine on April 11.