Activist arrested for challenging Hindu leader to attack him for eating beef

Coimbatore, July 28: An activist of a fringe outfit was arrested here for an alleged social media post challenging a Hindu Makkal Katchi leader to attack him for eating beef, police said.

Nirmal Kumar, a functionary of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhakam (DVK), was arrested on Saturday on charges of attempting to provoke religious enmity by his controversial post about beef-eating, said the police.

In a Facebook post on July 12, Kumar had challenged Hindu Makkal Katchi president Arjun Sampath to beat him for eating beef, referring to the attack on a man in Nagapattinam for posting a picture of himself having beef soup.

"I am in Coimbatore in your own town. Posting the beef-eating picture repeatedly for you. If you have guts come. Will you kill beef-eater, you Hindu fanatic?" he had posted.

Based on the post, a man lodged a complaint with Kattoor police, who summoned Kumar on Saturday and registered a case under Section 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and arrested him, police said. He was produced before a court and remanded till August 9.

A 24-year-old man, who was allegedly attacked by a group of people in Nagapattinam for posting a picture of himself consuming beef soup, was arrested on July 21 on a charge of disturbing peace, soon after he was discharged from a hospital.

Another man in Thanjavur district was arrested for uploading a post on social media inviting people to a 'beef festival' to be held in Kumbakonam.