Hours after Vadodara’s old city area witnesses communal tension over social media post, 1 held, 50 detained

On Saturday afternoon, two FIRs were lodged at the City Police station—one against a mob that indulged in unlawful assembly and rioting and another against the person accused of making the social media post that allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of a minority community.

While 50 people were detained to initiate the process of formal arrest in the case of rioting, a local resident was held on charges of hurting religious sentiments and under sections of the Information Technology Act for allegedly “creating and posting an AI-generated” social media post targeting a particular community, the police said.

Narasimha Komar, Police Commissioner, Vadodara, told The Indian Express that some policemen were injured in the rioting. “Two FIRs have been lodged. One is against the mob that indulged in unlawful assembly and rioting. The second FIR is against the person who made the social media post that went viral on Friday night. The post has been removed, and the person from the city has been arrested. He has been booked under sections for hurting religious sentiments,” Komar said.

Several teams of the Vadodara city police conducted combing operations in the area throughout the night. (Express Photo)

The police have undertaken continuous combing and patrolling in the area to restore law and order, Andrew Macwan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone IV, said.

“The FIR has been lodged against some who had been picked up from the spot and identified. The process of investigation is going on by scanning available video footage. We are taking all steps to ensure that the Navratri festivities beginning Monday are held without incident,” he added.

On Friday night, a crowd gathered outside the City police station, demanding an FIR be lodged over the social media post. Leena Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police, Vadodara City, who rushed to the spot along with several units of the local police and Crime Branch, addressed the protesters on a public address system and requested them to disperse with an assurance that the police would look into the matter. Patil, along with community leaders, also tried to placate the crowd.

“People gathered in large numbers at the City police station, demanding an FIR. We assured them that we are looking into the issue,” a senior police official said.

The Vadodara city police appealed to the citizens to stay away from rumours and warned of strict action against those using social media to spread panic to provoke breach of peace and create law and order issues.

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