IPS officer lodges FIR against Facebook for maligning Mahatma

Lucknow, Jan 25 (PTI),

Jan 25 2011, 11:15 ist
updated: Jan 25 2011, 11:15 ist

Amitabh Thakur, an IPS officer of UP cadre, has lodged the FIR against Facebook and others at Gomti Nagar police station here for allegedly portraying Gandhi in a wrong manner and spreading hatred, police sources said here.

In his complaint, Thakur alleged that abuses and dirty words have been used against Gandhi in the "I hate Gandi group" on the social networking site. He claimed the words and abuses were of such nature that they are wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot.

The FIR has been lodged under section 153 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of communities and other grounds), 153 A (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 153 B (public nuisance), 290 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 504 (criminal intimidation) 506 and 66 A IT Act (using Information Technology for these purposes).

Other than Facebook, those who have been named in the FIR are those who have been running the group including Rahul Devgan, Gaurab Banerjee, Rohan Shinde, Shikshit Kumar, Gadadhar Ghoshal, Deven Tandan and Vignesh NV.