Karnataka:
Vinit Nayak, a well-known right-wing social media influencer known by his nickname “Bhiku Mhatre,” was detained by Karnataka police on Saturday on suspicion of sharing offensive information on social media that disparaged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. According to Nagesh Naik, the son of Vinit Nayak , Karnataka police seized his father from their Ponda, Goa, home. Naik took to social media to voice his displeasure, pointing out that given the FIR’s nature, his father’s imprisonment appeared to be unwarranted. He used the hashtag #ReleaseBhikuMhatre to call for Nayak’s release.
In his videos and posts, Nayak stated opinions that seemed to be hostile against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as Hindus, accusing the Congress party of trying to transfer money from Hindus to Muslims. J Saravanan lodged a complaint against Nayak, alleging that his actions on ‘X’ may potentially cause animosity between Muslims and Hindus, thereby upsetting social peace. This led to the filing of a FIR against Nayak.
Following Nayak’s arrest, there was a political backlash, with several BJP leaders denouncing the Karnataka police’s conduct. Tejasvi Surya, the Member of Parliament for Bengaluru South, condemned the arrest as an obvious misuse of the Karnataka Congress Government’s power and promised to contest it in court as well as via public lobbying.
