Nine youths held for bid to trigger communal clash

The youths, belonging to another community, had convened a meeting at a village near Porayar in the district on April 21 to discuss about a clash between the two communities in Ariyalur district during the general elections, they said.

“We received complaints that they (the youths) had recorded derogatory messages related to the other community and spread them through the social media,” Superintendent of Police C Vijayakumar told reporters here. With the help of cybercrime wing, the Porayar police conducted an inquiry, he said, adding that the culprits were arrested on charges of attempting to trigger communal clashes.

The police officer warned that action under the Goondas Act would be taken against those who spread hate messages on social media and trigger communal clashes.

The Tiruchitrambalam police have arrested a youth for passing defamatory comments against a leader of the Veera Mutharaiyar Munnetra Sangam on social media.

Sources said Thanjai Samy alias N Ayyasamy (27), who is a state executive committee member of the sangam, filed a police complaint stating that one S Guhan (26) was sharing an online post bearing his (Ayyasamy) photo. “The social media post claimed that Ayyasamy was behind the controversial audio clip, which was aimed at maligning a community,” they said.

After conducting an enquiry, the police registered a case against Guhan, who is from the same community as that of complainant, under various sections of the Indian Penal code. He was arrested on Monday night and produced before the Judicial Magistrate court in Pattukkottai.