Bengaluru, 8 Nov

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and editors of some Kannada news portals have been booked for allegedly spreading fake news linking a farmer's suicide to land disputes with Waqf Board, police said on Friday.

Sharing the article of the news portals on 'X', the Bengaluru South MP on 7 November alleged that a farmer in Haveri district died by suicide after finding his land had been taken over by the Board. "In their haste to appease minorities, CM@Siddaramaiah @BZ ZameerAhmed K have unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka that are becoming impossible to contain with every passing day," Surya alleged.

The post was deleted by the MP later after Haveri district Superintendent of Police termed the news article as fake. "The news shared is false. No such incident was reported. The farmer mentioned here, Rudrappa Channappa Balikai's suicide was reported on 06/01/2022 and it was reported due to loan and crop loss," the SP said.

A case was registered under 174 CrPC in Adar police station and the final report was already submitted, he stated. "Based on a complaint by a police official posted at the social media monitoring cell of the Haveri district police, a case was registered against Tejasvi Surya, editors of Kannada Dunia e-paper and Kannada News e-paper under section 353 (2) (making, publishing, or circulating statements that are intended to create or promote feelings of hatred, ill will, or enmity between different groups) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)," a senior police officer said.

The FIR has been registered at CEN (Cybercrime, Economic Offences, Narcotics) police station in Haveri district, he added.

Speaking to PTI Videos on Friday, Surya said that a delegation of farmers met the Chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jagdambika Pal, during his visit to Karnataka on November 7 and submitted to him a memorandum.

In the course of that presentation, he said, a few farmers also brought to his notice that an agriculturist in Haveri district named Sannappa had died by suicide because the RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops) of his four acre plot was transferred to the Waqf Board, and he could not raise loans.

Many reputed and credible Kannada media organisations also reported this, Surya said. "I retweeted one of these media outlet reports and said that this is a very serious issue. Farmers are being driven today to commit suicide in Karnataka because of the state-sponsored Waqf encroachment that is taking place and that the state government must at least wake up now," he said.

Surya said after the SP's clarification, he deleted his tweet and said that "perhaps the news organisations on whose report I had relied on perhaps should be more careful about posting news. "....once I deleted the tweet, (Karnataka Minister) Priyank Kharge who is 'a full time troll minister and a part-time constitutional functionary' stated that he is going to get an FIR registered and within a few minutes, an FIR was registered," he alleged.

He accused senior ministers of trying to exert pressure on the police department to falsify records and arrive at a wrong conclusion with respect to the farmer's suicide. "FIRs are being registered...forget me...even on media organisations for fair and free reporting on the Waqf matter," Surya said.