MP: FIR against Digvijaya Singh over his social media post on Jain temple

PTI, Aug 30, 2023, 8:52 PM IST

Source: PTI / File

The Madhya Pradesh police have registered a case against Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh following an alleged misleading post on his X social media account over a Jain temple in Damoh district, an official said on Wednesday.

Amid the police case, state BJP chief VD Sharma demanded that Singh’s account on X, formerly Twitter, be suspended for “misleading” people. Singh said he simply shared the “information” that he received with the police and that he doesn’t care about such cases.

Rajya Sabha member Singh, in a post on August 27 on his official X account, claimed that some “alleged anti-social elements of Bajrang Dal” ransacked the Jain temple complex at Kundalpur (in Damoh) on August 26 night and kept a “Shiv Pindi” there.

While Singh tagged the post to the MP chief minister and director general of police (DGP), he deleted it later.

Damoh Superintendent of Police Sunil Tiwari said following a complaint, the Kotwali police have registered a case against Singh under Indian Penal Code sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 177 (furnishing false information) and 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) for the post on Kundalpur Jain temple.

The SP said after a spot investigation of the Kundalpur Jain temple by the sub-divisional magistrate and sub-divisional officer of police, the news about the incident was found to be “without facts and misleading”.

Kundalpur Trust Committee chairman Chandrakumar Bajaj also denied such an incident in the temple.

Bajrang Dal’s city convener Shambhu Vishwakarma said his outfit’s workers had submitted a memorandum to the police against Singh’s “misleading” post about the Kundalpur temple complex, following which the police registered an FIR (first information report) against the 76-year-old Congress leader.

Singh should be arrested immediately for “disturbing communal harmony”, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP state president VD Sharma told reporters that they are also going to complain to X seeking the suspension of Singh’s account on the social media platform, which he said is used to incite social hatred and religious sentiments.

Digvijay Singh is a “habitual political criminal” and he constantly posts fake tweets to ruin the atmosphere of the country and the state, Sharma said.

The BJP leader said MP Congress chief Kamal Nath has no issues to raise ahead of the assembly elections, which will likely be held by the year-end, so they “serve lies through Digvijay Singh to hurt religious sentiments and spread hatred in society”.

BJP will take legal steps in this regard, he added. When asked about the FIR against him in Damoh, the Congress leader who was in Sagar district told reporters that he only shared “information” that came to him with the DGP.

“What was wrong in this,” he countered.

About his post on X, Singh asked, “And through whom I would have conveyed my information? I alerted them.” The Congress leader said he doesn’t care about such FIRs.

“I worked for social harmony and unity of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Isai throughout my life.. but they (BJP) incite people by spreading religious frenzy,” he alleged.