The Karnataka Police have arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party member for allegedly spreading misinformation on social media about displaying a Pakistani flag in Lulu Mall in Kochi, the Hindustan Times reported.
On October 10, Shakuntala Nataraj had alleged in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Pakistan’s flag in the mall was bigger and placed above an Indian flag. The mall authorities had put up flags of all countries contesting in the ongoing cricket World Cup.
In her post, Nataraj also claimed that the photo was from the Lulu Mall in Bengaluru. She tagged Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar asking him to boycott the mall, according to India Today.
However, fact checkers pointed out that the photo was from a mall in Kochi and the Pakistani flag appeared bigger and placed above the Indian flag due to the angle from which the picture had been clicked.
The Lulu Mall in Kochi also issued a statement clarifying that all flags were of the same size. “We want to emphasise that we retain the right to take legal action against individuals spreading such misleading information,” the mall authorities said in the statement, according to India Today.
Natraj has been booked under Section 153B of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups.
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