The Rajasthan government on Wednesday imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 in Udaipur, after posts suggesting rallies and demonstrations in support of Shambhulal Regar started doing the rounds on Facebook. The order bans more than four people from assembling in an area.
Regar was arrested on December 7 for brutally murdering a Muslim man in Rajsamand town a day earlier and sharing several videos of the killing.
The prohibitory order – issued in Udaipur at 8 pm – will be in effect till further orders, District Collector Bishnu Charan Mallick said.
A government official told Scroll.in the step was taken after one Updesh Rana wrote several posts on Facebook about arriving in Udaipur and conducting rallies in Regar’s support. Police presence was stepped up in the district, and internet services will remain suspended till the order is lifted, the official said.
On Monday, the police arrested two others in Udaipur for allegedly writing inflammatory Facebook posts about the murder of Muslim labourer Mohammed Afrazul.
After his arrest, Regar had claimed that Afrazul was a perpetrator of “love jihad” – a term Hindutva groups often use to accuse Muslim men of entrapping Hindu women on the pretext of love to eventually convert them to Islam. But the Rajasthan Police refuted his allegations.
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