Two held for blasphemy through WhatsApp messages

Belthangady: Two persons have been arrested by the police here on the allegation of creating a WhatsApp group and streaming material having contemptuous content about the gods pertaining to another religion.

The arrested persons are Rameez Vitla and Abdul Salam Bantwal and were apprehended by a police team led by police circle inspector here. The accused have been produced in the court on Thursday August 22. Another accused from Thumaby who was the admin of the group was also questioned and the police are continuing with their search for a few more persons.

Apparently, a few Muslim youths from Bantwal and Vittal area had formed a group in the name, ‘Shivaji Fans’.  The group having about 40 members continuously featured contemptuous material about the gods of certain religions. Vikram Das from Belthangady was added to the group.

According to the cops, Mr Das noticed that the group was turning into a ground for blaming Hindu gods, started to use similar language against Muslim faith. He then filed a complaint in connection to some hateful; messages going viral.

The police have assumed that the messages to be a ploy to ignite communal clashes. They have considered the incident to be serious in nature and are searching for other admins of the group.