Bengaluru: BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and editors of some Kannada news portals have been booked for allegedly spreading fake news linking a farmer's suicide to land disputes with Waqf Board, police said on Friday.
Sharing the article of the news portals on 'X', the Bengaluru South MP on November 7 alleged that a farmer in Haveri district died by suicide after finding his land had been taken over by the Waqf Board.
"In their haste to appease minorities, CM@Siddaramaiah @BZ ZameerAhmed K have unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka that are becoming impossible to contain with every passing day," Surya alleged.
The post was deleted by the MP later after the Haveri district Superintendent of Police termed the news article as fake.
"The news shared is false. No such incident was reported. The farmer mentioned here, Rudrappa Channappa Balikai suicide was reported on 06/01/2022 and it was reported due to loan and crop loss," the SP said.
A case was registered under 174 CrPC in Adar police station and the final report was already submitted, he stated.
"Based on a complaint by a police official posted at the social media monitoring cell of the Haveri district police, a case was registered against Tejasvi Surya, editors of Kannada Dunia e-paper and Kannada News e-paper under section 353 (2) (making, publishing, or circulating statements that are intended to create or promote feelings of hatred, ill will, or enmity between different groups) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)," a senior police officer said.
The FIR has been registered at CEN (Cybercrime, Economic Offences, Narcotics) police station in Haveri district, he added.
In response to the FIR, Tejasvi Surya defended his statements while speaking in Hubli city. He claimed that the reports of the farmer’s suicide due to the Waqf entry were initially published by media outlets and the farmer’s family had spoken about the issue on camera.
"This is not fiction written by the media. The farmer's family appealed publicly, and it was broadcasted. I removed my tweet out of respect, following a police statement, but there seems to be a conspiracy to cover up the case," Surya alleged.
Tejasvi Surya also expressed his displeasure against the Waqf board, accusing it of being supported by the state’s Congress government. Addressing a gathering in Tadasa village of Shiggaon taluk, Haveri district, he questioned the government’s intentions.
"Farmers in Haveri were crying before the Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman, claiming that a 4-acre plot of land in their son’s name was wrongly entered as Waqf in the RTC. The media reported it, and I shared it on social media to alert the government. But they lodged an FIR against me to suppress my voice," Surya remarked. (With PTI Inputs)
