Bengaluru: Postcard News founder Mahesh Vikram Hegde held for promoting enmity

A police complaint was filed under section 153A, 295A and 120B of the IPC and section 66 of the Information Technology Act by official of the Congress in Bengaluru for spreading fake news.

Postcard News founder held for promoting enmity

A Central Crime Branch unit of Bengaluru police Thursday arrested the founder of the website Postcard News Mahesh Vikram Hegde on charges of promoting communal enmity and outraging religious sentiments by posting fake news regarding an attack on a Jain muni Mayank Sagar by a Muslim youth.

The deputy commissioner of police (crime) in Bengaluru Jinendra Kanagavi said Hegde had been arrested Thursday on the basis of a complaint filed with the cyber crime police station attached to the Central Crime Branch regarding a fake news item tweeted and posted by Postcard News.

The website posted a news item between March 16 and 18, stating that the Jain muni Mayank Sagar had been attacked by a Muslim youth in Karnataka. The post by Hegde stated, “very sad news, yesterday in Karnataka jain muni attacked by Muslim youth…No one is safe in Siddaramaiah’s Karnataka’’.

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The news of the attack on the Jain muni was called out as fake news by several websites.

A police complaint was filed under section 153A, 295A and 120B of the IPC and section 66 of the Information Technology Act by Gaffar Baig, an official of the Congress in Bengaluru on March 18, for spreading fake news. “The investigations have found that the Jain muni was injured in an accident and messages were put out on social media by Mahesh Vikram Hegde saying he was attacked by a Muslim youth,’’ the DCP (crime) said.

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