Uttarakhand minor sent to juvenile home over offensive FB pic
A 16-year-old Muslim boy, whose allegedly offensive Facebook post triggered communal violence in Uttarakhand, has been sent to a juvenile home for 14 days. The decision was taken by the juvenile board at Pauri Garhwal on Monday, police said.
Police said there had been no overnight violence in Satpuli, a quaint town some 150kms from state capital Dehradun in the Pauri Garhwal district, and warned social media users to not spread rumours or inflammatory messages.
“The police have been deployed in the town and so far the situation is under control. The minor was held last evening and was produced before the juvenile board which has sent him to juvenile home for 14 days” Jagat Ram Joshi, superintendent of police, Pauri Garhwal, told HT over the phone. The official said one local resident Jagdamba Dangwal filed police complaint under Section 295 (a) of the Indian Penal Code (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings) and Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The market in the town opened on Monday morning amid uneasiness among locals. It has a small market that connects parts of Garhwal hills.
On Sunday morning, communal tensions gripped the small town after activists of ABVP and Bajrang Dal vandalised a vegetable shop belonging to the family of a minor boy who allegedly posted an offensive picture of the Kedarnath shrine on Facebook.
Satpuli has no history of communal tension. Some five Muslim families were residing in the town for several decades and that the accused boy belonged to one of them, police said.