Tension in Mumbai's satellite town over offensive FB post

The riot control police was deployed in Nalla Sopara, a satellite town outside Mumbai in Thane district, on Thursday after an offensive Facebook post escalated communal tensions.

Late on Wednesday night, more than hundred persons protested the derogatory post on Facebook and demanded that strict action be taken against the person who made the post. The Thane Rural police has sent the details of the post to the cyber crime cell and have stepped up security measures.

This comes a week after a similar incident created tension in Bhiwandi town.

Inspector Mukund Mahajan of the Nalla Sopara police said a case has been registered under Section 295(a) (outraging religious feelings by insulting religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC and under Section 66 (a) and (b) of the Information Technology Act against unknown persons. The details of the post have been sent to the cyber crime cell, Thane, for procuring the user’s IP address, he added.

“We have appealed to the people to report such derogatory posts and not to take the law into their own hands,” the inspector said. “We are investigating the issue on a priority basis.”