Mangaluru 'mob lynching': Individuals booked for spreading fake messages as cops mull registering case under UAPA

A case was registered against a WhatsApp group, 'Beary Muslim Army', at Konaje police station for circulating false messages.

Mangaluru: Mangaluru city police have registered cases against groups and individuals circulating false and provocative messages, related to the Kudupu mob lynching incident, on social media.

"Miscreants with malicious intentions were deliberately circulating misleading information with the intent to incite unrest and disturb communal harmony in the city," a press release from Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal stated.

According to sources, police are also seeking opinions of legal experts on registering a case under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act).

A case was registered against a WhatsApp group, “Beary Muslim Army”, at Konaje police station for circulating a false message that the murder weapon, stump used during the lynching of the migrant labourer, had been recovered. The message also questioned who was behind the killing.

The case (55/2025) was registered under sections 192, 353(1), and 353(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Following complaints about misleading messages about the lynching being uploaded on Instagram account, “beary-royal-nawab,” a case was registered at Barke police station (44/2025) under section 353(2) of the BNS, 2023.

With the social monitoring cell of Mangaluru police commissionerate tracking down fake and inflammatory posts on WhatsApp group, “Maikalltho Beary," with the objective to create unrest in society, a third case was registered against Zakir Hussain from Munnur village in Ullal taluk, under Section 353(1)(b) of the BNS, 2023, at Kankanady Town police station, the press release stated.