UK-based doctor prevented from leaving country at Mumbai airport

The official said that their investigation was in progress and they suspect that apart from his own social media account, the”’generic account” that originally posted the “objectionable and sexually explicit content against BJP leaders” also was being run by him.

“We are conducting a technical probe and during that time we do not want him to leave the country as we fear he may not return to face the law. He can contest it in the court and we are ready with our answer,” the official said.

When contacted, Patil said that police had assured him earlier that he would be leave the country on Monday.

“The police detained me for 15 hours on January 10 when I flew down to Mumbai. They said they would be reversing the LOC issued against me after I appear before them on January 16 and record my statement. Even on January 16, they recorded my statement again for nearly 7-8 hours and assured me that I would be able to leave on January 19. However, unfortunately I found today that the LOC has not been taken off and my wife and I had to return home from the airport,” he told The Indian Express.

Alleging that police are trying to harass him, Patil added, ” I received a call today again from the police asking me to appear before them on January 22 despite giving detailed statements twice for a one sentence post I had put up. It is clear that there is ‘something going on’ and they are trying to harass me. I am taking advice regarding approaching the court of law.”

On January 10, Patil, who originally hails from Jalgaon, was returning to the country from the UK with his wife when he was detained at the airport based on Look Out Notice issued against him based on the FIR registered last month. He was brought to the police station and allowed to go after a notice was issued to join the police probe at a later date.

Patil is facing an FIR under section 353(2) of the BNS that stands for statements containing false information that would lead to feeling of enmity and hatred between communities. The section carries a maximum punishment of three years. The content was blocked by the police following registration of the FIR.

The FIR was registered based on the statement given by one Nikhil Bhamre who is involved in looking after the social media accounts of the BJP and online activity related to the party. In his statement to the NM Joshi Marg police station, where the FIR was registered, he mentioned that on December 18, he came across some content on the Shehar Vikas Aghadi Facebook page that had been posted on December 14.

He alleged that the post mentioned objectionable things and disinformation about BJP and its prominent leaders. The complaint further mentioned that it also had objectionable content regarding a woman.

He further alleged that the post had also been published further by Patil with an intention to create misinformation.