Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he has lodged a police complaint over a fake news story and accused "the miscreants supported by the unholy alliance of BJP and JD(S) of fabricating a piece of disinformation mimicking a report from the Kannada newspaper."
Hours later, based on a complaint by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Legal Cell Secretary Harish Nagaraj, the Cyber Crime police station of Bengaluru West Division registered a case under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code.
"The police booked Prabhakar Reddy, Vasant Giliyar, Vijay Heragu, Pandu Modi Ka Parivar, BSY Supporters, Davangere BJP and Datri Goshale for posting the purported news report on their Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp handles," official sources said.
Siddaramaiah earlier said he would root out the creators of such fake news and those backing them through legal means.
The chief minister shared the purported 'news report' in Kannada, whose headline read, "We don't need Hindus. Muslim votes are enough: Siddaramaiah," on the micro-blogging site 'X'.
Quoting Siddaramaiah, the sub-heading in the fake news report said: "I wish to be born as a Muslim in the next birth. Don't bother about BJP's comments on Muslim appeasement."
"This fake news is loaded with content that stirs up communal tensions and has been widely disseminated across social media platforms," Siddaramaiah said.
Stating that he has already lodged a complaint with the police about this, he said, "We have information about the vested interests behind this and the police will take necessary action."
Resorting to such deceitful tactics to win elections, rather than engaging with political opponents through fair and honest means, shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the BJP and JD(S), the chief minister alleged.
"A party that has ruled the country for 10 years should not have stooped to such a despicable level of manufacturing fake news to win an election. Be cautious before believing and sharing fake news..!," Siddaramaiah added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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