For derogatory remarks on General Bipin Rawat, Gujarat man arrested

Ahmedabad: A 44-year-old man in Gujarat, who had allegedly made derogatory remarks on his Facebook page about the death of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, was arrested by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell on Thursday, officials said.

However, the police clarified he has been arrested for his previous posts which also had derogatory tone and came to light only when the latest remarks surfaced.

The accused, identified as Shivabhai Ram, is a resident of Bherai village in Rajula taluka of Gujarat’s Amreli district, said a release by the Cyber Crime Cell.

However, the release did not mention anything about his alleged remarks against Gen Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday along with 12 others.

Ram was arrested for his previous posts, in which he had made derogatory remarks about Hindu deities as well as elected representatives on his Facebook page “Shivabhai Ahir”, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Jitendra Yadav.

The accused has been arrested on charges of promoting enmity between different groups under section 153-A, and for engaging in malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting religion under section 295-A of the IPC, the release said.

“The accused came under our radar after he shared some derogatory posts on General Bipin Rawat. Upon scanning his timeline, we realized that he had earlier shared objectionable posts about Hindu gods and goddesses. He had also used derogatory words for elected representatives in his Facebook posts in the past,” said ACP Yadav.

After registering an FIR, Cyber Crime officials arrested Ram from his native place in Amreli and brought him here.

Investigations have revealed Ram harbours political ambitions and wanted to be in the limelight by sharing objectionable posts, the police officer said.

“Shivabhai had served as deputy sarpanch (of his village) between 2010 and 2014. Since he has ambitions to get elected as the sarpanch in the coming years, he was trying to attract people’s attention by raising sensitive issues through social media,” said ACP Yadav.