Bengaluru, 26 June

An FIR has been registered against the Karnataka BJP's social media handle over an alleged post put up by the party comparing former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Adolf Hitler, police said on Thursday.

The action was taken based on a complaint lodged by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) general secretary S Manohar at High Grounds police station on 25 June , they said.

In the complaint, Manohar alleged that the post that was put up by the BJP's official 'X' account (@BJP4Karnataka) at 3.54 pm on Wednesday captioned "INDIRA NOT EQUALS INDIA, INDIRA = HITLER" was accompanied by a 38-second video related to the Emergency period in India.

According to the complainant, the alleged post that was deleted later, featured a graphic where the image of Indira Gandhi was morphed to resemble Hitler.

The alleged content of the post was defamatory towards the former PM and aimed to incite unrest in society and create enmity between different religions and communities, he said.

"Based on the complaint received, we have registered a case under sections 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further investigation is underway," a senior police officer said.