Ridiculing police on social media will land you in trouble in Karnataka

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Friday said it will crackdown against those who ridicule and insult police in the social media.

Speaking to reporters here, home minister R Ramalinga Reddy said the police have been instructed to book criminal cases against those who repeatedly post objectionable comments and fake videos about the police in social media.

The minister's warning comes in the backdrop of the recent social media trend where traffic offenders record their conversations with the policemen on the mobile phone and post the same on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp with misleading captions.

Recounting a video in which a traffic policemen is seen collecting penalty from a tempo driver without issuing a receipt, the minister said: "I checked with the police later and they said there was a delay in issuing a receipt as the cop had to control traffic as the chief minister's convoy was passing on that route. But the video, and the reactions it has received, make it appear that the policeman was trying to walk away with the money. Such misleading statements and videos will not be tolerated." The minister said the cyber crime police have been instructed to monitor mischief-mongers who target police in social media.

Phone tapping: Reacting to the BJP'S allegations that the Siddaramaiah government was tapping the phones of the state BJP leaders, Reddy said: "If they submit evidence we will get it investigated." Reddy maintained that the BJP was making wild allegations to drum up sympathy in the run-up to the assembly polls. "The BJP is blindly firing in the air, there is no point making such allegations," he added.