BJP functionary Kalyanaraman arrested for tweets allegedly promoting hatred

The 55-year-old was arrested following a cyber investigation into his posts; this his second arrest this year

The Cyber Crime Wing of the Central Crime Branch has arrested R. Kalyanaraman, 55, a BJP functionary on charges of posting tweets which allegedly promoted enmity, hatred and ill-will between classes.

Kalyanaraman was arrested following a complaint by Gopinath, an advocate from Tondiarpet. The complainant alleged that Kalyanaraman, using his Twitter handle, had posted 18 tweets in two months. All his posts promoted enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion. He has been continuously doing this with the intention to incite violence or clashes between two groups, police said.

Police added that after analysing the tweets, the allegation of the complainant was found to be true and a prima facie case was made out against the accused. Kalyanaraman was picked up from Virugambakkam and was later produced before a magistrate’s court for remand.

Police booked a case against him under sections 153A-(1)(a) (Whoever by words, either spoken or written, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities) and 505(2) (Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code.

Kalyanaraman is the former National Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Mazdoor Mahasangh (BJMM) and a BJP State working committee member. In February, he was arrested for his hate comments, made on January 30, against a particular community during a BJP rally. Kalyanaraman has also been arrested for making a similar statement in 2016.

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