The Delhi Police Special Cell on Wednesday registered a case against some people for allegedly spreading messages of hate, inciting various groups and creating situations which is detrimental for the maintenance of public tranquillity.
Among those named in the FIR, registered by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) unit of the Special Cell, are Naveen Kumar Jindal, Shadab Chauhan, Saba Naqvi, Maulana Mufti Nadeem, Abdur Rehman and Gulzar Ansari, the police said.
A second FIR was registered under similar sections against suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and other social media users.
A senior police officer said their Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit had been monitoring their posts, and found alleged objectionable remarks related to religion.
The FIR is against several individuals cutting across religions, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) KPS Malhotra said.
The unit will investigate the roles of various social media entities in promoting false and wrong information with an intention to create unrest on the cyber space and that have ramifications on the physical space thereby compromising with the social fabric of the country, Malhotra said.
Earlier this week, Delhi Police had registered an FIR based on a complaint by Sharma in which the suspended BJP spokesperson alleged that she is receiving death threats after her remarks on Prophet Mohammad. She was later provided security cover by the Delhi Police.
The BJP on Sunday suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal as the row over their alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad escalated with protests from some Muslim countries.
Amid demonstrations by Muslim groups and the sharp reaction from countries like Kuwait, Qatar and Iran, the BJP issued a statement asserting that it respects all religions and strongly denounces insults of any religious personality.
Sharma’s comments, made during a TV debate nearly 10 days ago, and Jindal’s now-deleted tweets sparked a Twitter trend calling for a boycott of Indian products in some countries.
After the action, Sharma unconditionally withdrew her controversial statement and claimed that her comments were a reaction to “continuous insult and disrespect towards our Mahadev (Lord Shiva)”.