Tamil Nadu BJP leader Kalayanaraman held for tweets allegedly promoting hatred

BJP functionary R Kalayanaraman (55) was arrested by the cybercrime wing of the central crime branch for posting abusive tweets to promote hatred and enmity between people of different communities.

Based on the complaint of Gopinath, an advocate from Tondiarpet, the city police had started an investigation. The police said that in the last two months, the accused had posted 18 tweets with an intention to incite violence between people on the grounds of religion. He was booked under Sections 153 (A) and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code and produced before a magistrate’s court on Sunday which sent him to judicial custody. The police said steps would be taken to disable his Twitter account.

Kalayanaraman was arrested under the Goondas Act in February 2021 following an order by Coimbatore Collector K Rajamani. He was accused of passing derogatory remarks against Muslims. The order issued by the collector stated that the BJP leader had been found indulging in activities prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and peace. In June, the Madras High Court had set aside the Act. In 2016, he was arrested for making similar comments against a particular community on his social media page.