MANGALURU, 11 DEC

Police have launched an investigation after uncovering a series of alarming and inciteful posts on Instagram, allegedly designed to stoke communal hatred and glorify violence in Mangaluru.

The FIR, filed by Police Sub-Inspector Anita Nikkam of the Kankanady Town Police Station, details how the officer monitoring social media on 2 December, following directives from senior officials, discovered multiple accounts disseminating inflammatory content.

The FIR indicates that the posts and stories on 16 Instagram accounts featured disturbing images of unidentified individuals wielding various weapons with many concealing their identities.

Police noted that the posts were aimed at instilling fear, inciting violence, and fostering hostility between communities, thereby jeopardising public order in Mangaluru. The FIR further states that the content seems to be part of a broader scheme to incite religious hatred, promote unlawful activities, and undermine peace and communal harmony in the region.

Given that Mangaluru is identified as a "sensitive region," the police expressed concern over the possibility of a coordinated effort to induce terror, provoke riots, and encourage conspiratorial criminal behaviour through social media.