Police 'delaying' FIR over boycott of Muslim fruit vendors, says activist

The city police are accused of “delaying” registering an FIR against Chandru Moger, the coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, who tweeted a call for boycotting Muslim fruit vendors.

Zia Nomani, of Bandhua Mukti Morcha, said he filed a complaint at the Sanjaynagar police on Wednesday, seeking action against Moger.

In the tweet, Moger stated that the fruit business was “monopolised” by Muslims who “spit on fruits and bread before selling it”.

He asked people to buy fruits only from Hindu vendors.

Nomani told DH: “Had any Muslim said this, police would have booked him under the UAPA (the anti-terrorism law). A person talking about the economic boycott of Muslims and accusing us of Jihad is akin to giving a call for genocide.”

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According to Nomani, Sanjaynagar police tried to reason with him and talk him out of filing the complaint, saying the “accused party may react and the situation can turn volatile”.

While police promised to take “appropriate action” after taking a legal opinion, Nomani demanded why they were taking so long. “I agree about taking the legal opinion. But if the police and legal experts don’t know which IPC sections are to be invoked in cases involving such hate speech, they are in the wrong job,” Nomani said.

Nomani said he and a few other individuals met Bengaluru city police commissioner Kamal Pant in his office on April 7. Pant gave them an envelope and asked them to meet the deputy commissioner of police (North). The DCP told them he would look into the complaint and take appropriate action.

The Sanjaynagar police insist they didn’t refuse to register an FIR. They said they received Nomani’s complaint and gave him an acknowledgement. The complaint was later forwarded to legal experts for their opinion. Once the report comes, further necessary action will be taken, an officer said.

“If anyone has any issue with the procedure in such cases, they can always go to court and get a private complaint registered,” the officer said.

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