BENGALURU: The West CEN crime police have registered a complaint against four persons for putting out a fake newspaper clipping, showing an image of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and attributing to him false quotes to spread fake news that he prioritises votes of Muslims over Hindus.
The four persons have been identified as Prabhakar Reddy, Vasant Giliyara, Vijay Heragu and Pandu Modka.
In a complaint filed with the CEN police on Wednesday, Congress representative Harish Nagaraju claimed that the four accused manage Whatsapp groups and social media pages with titles -- ‘BSY Supporters’, ‘Davangere BJP’ and ‘Datri Goshale’. In those groups and on social media sites, they had forwarded the newspaper clipping, in which Siddaramaiah is alleged to have said, “I wish to be born as a Muslim in the next birth. Don’t bother about BJP’s comments on Muslim appeasement”.
Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he has filed a police complaint over the clipping. He said, “The miscreants, supported by the unholy alliance of BJP and JDS, have fabricated a piece of disinformation mimicking a report from a Kannada newspaper.” The fake news is loaded with content that stirs up communal tensions and it has been widely publicised on social media platforms, he said. The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee too filed a case with the chief electoral officer.
Be cautious about fake news, Siddaramaiah tells citizens
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday appealed to people to be cautious before believing and sharing fake news. The CM, who filed a complaint with the police against miscreants who allegedly fabricated a piece of disinformation mimicking a report from a Kannada newspaper, said, “We will root out the creators of such fake news and those backing them through legal means.” Siddaramaiah said the fake news is loaded with content that stirs up communal tensions and has been widely disseminated across social media platforms.
“I have already lodged a police complaint about this. We have information about the vested interests behind this and the police will take necessary action,” he said. 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 JDS, the CM stated.
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, he said, asking people to be cautious before believing fake news. Meanwhile, the KPCC filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against the BJP for allegedly circulating fabricated content and violating the Model Code Conduct.