The Kalaburagi Police in Karnataka on Monday registered a first information report against the organisers of a Ganesh Chaturthi procession and a disc jockey, or DJ, for playing a provocative song outside a mosque, reported The News Minute.
The incident took place in the early hours of September 10 following which videos were shared widely on social media. It showed participants dancing outside the Gulbarga Mehbus mosque to the song and cheering as lines of the song that encouraged violence was being played.
The police took cognisance of the videos and filed a case under provisions of the Karnataka Police Act 1963 and Sections 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) and 295A (restraining acts of outraging religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code.
The accused persons include Tukaram Mahendrakar, Amresh Bhovi and Saleem, the DJ, according to ANI.
Mohammed Wajid Ahmed, a resident, told The Wire that songs were played for two hours between 2 am and 4 am.
“Even the police tried to stop the DJs but the organisers did not cooperate with the police,” Ahmed claimed.
Before the incident, Chandu Patil, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the son of Legislative Council member BG Patil, had said that he would not follow the guidelines on using sound systems and had challenged the police to take action against him.
On Sunday, Patil was seen dancing on the truck that was carrying the DJ’s turntable and speakers. The police have not take any action against him.
Aleem Ilah, a local Muslim activist, told The Wire that the police had initially claimed that the videos were old were from a previous Ram Navami procession.
“But local accounts and CCTV footage from the camera of the mosque refuted police’s initial claim,” he told the news portal. “Then reports said the videos was indeed from the Ganesh Chaturthi procession.”
On Sunday, the police in Karntaka’s Ballari district had arrested four men for allegedly throwing slippers at a mosque in Siruguppa city during a Ganesh festival procession.
Police officials had witnessed the incident at the procession on September 9, but could not identify who had thrown the slippers. However, the four men were arrested after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
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