Kerala police on Tuesday filed a case against BJP's Anil K Antony for sharing a post on a social media platform in which he allegedly commented on an incident involving burqa-clad women.
Kasaragod district cyber cell said Mr Antony's post on social media platform X was deemed as promoting enmity between different groups, leading to the registration of the case under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Section 153A of the IPC deals with the non-bailable offence of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth or residence.
The FIR against Antony, which was lodged on October 27 by the Cyber Cell on its own, was initially against unknown persons in connection with a controversial post on X.
Subsequently, Mr Antony allegedly shared the post and commented on it, saying, "No bus rides without a burqa in northern Kerala".
On Tuesday, his name was added to the FIR as an accused, police said.
Mr Antony, who is the BJP's national secretary and spokesperson, has not reacted to the development.
This action against Mr Antony follows an earlier FIR against Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
He was booked for statements made on social media regarding the recent blasts near Kochi and an unrelated event organised by an Islamist group in Malappuram district in which a Hamas leader allegedly addressed the audience virtually.
Mr Chandrasekhar was booked for the offences under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) of the IPC and section 120 (o) (causing nuisance and violation of public order) of the Kerala Police Act.
According to the FIR against the central minister on the complaint by a sub-inspector (SI) of Kochi city Cyber Cell of the police, Chandrasekhar posted statements and video on his social media accounts with the intention of disrupting the communal harmony in Kerala and inciting violence.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Kerala Couple Has Miraculous Escape After Car Falls Into Well Kerala Man Returns To From US, Dies In Road Accident On Way Home Actor Kutti Padmini Says Sexual Harassment Rampant in Tamil Film Industry Russia's Firing Of ICBM On Ukraine Is Weapon's 1st Combat Use In History Amazon Employee Greets Friend At Wedding, Dies Of Cardiac Arrest This Asian City Is Emerging As Sex Tourism Hub. It's Not Where You Think Assam Chief Minister Unveils These Facilities At Legislative Complex North Korea's Kim Accuses US Of Escalating Tensions, Warns Of Nuclear War NDMC Launches 'Night Cleaning Drive' Amid Delhi's 'Very Poor' Air Quality Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.