Tripura, November 7: North Tripura District Court awarded jail custody to four people who have been arrested for allegedly promoting hatred among two religious groups after the October 26 violence in Tripura's Panisagar area. Speaking to ANI, Arindam Nath, Inspector General (IG), law and order said, "On November 3, a group of four people who identified themselves as members of Tahreek Fargoh-E-Islam (TFISLAM), New Delhi visited an abandoned mosque located at RCPE complex, Panisagar.

Since the whole area has been put under high alert and extensive security arrangements were there, the police inquired about their identity but they misbehaved. They rather threatened the police personnel. They opened their mobile cameras and started making statements with ulterior motives. It was evident that they were trying to provoke disharmony in the area." Soon after the incident, a case was registered against the four with Panisagar police station under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (attacks upon the religion), 153B (assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 503 (threatening), 504 (Intentional Insult) and section 13 of ULA (P) for the punishment of unlawful activities, said the IG.  Hate Speech Row: Ravi Shankar Prasad Hits Out at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Raises Questions on High-Level Inquiry Against Facebook India.

"The maximum punishment under these sections is seven years. The investigating officer tried not to arrest them and asked them to receive notices instead and appear before the police on November 5. But, they did not pay any heed to the police's advice and insisted on getting arrested. They were accordingly arrested and produced before the Court.  Hate Speech: Delhi Police Files Charge Sheet Before Court.

The Court granted the police's prayer of Jail custody till November 18 next", said Nath. He also added that one of the accused had submitted fake proof of identity before the police.Nath further informed that a total of four cases have been registered in connection with the violence that took place on October 26. Four people have already been arrested and other appropriate legal actions are being taken. On the social media issue, he said, "A total of seven persons including four advocates are served with notices under CrPC section 41 A.

As many as 102 social media accounts including 68 Twitter, 31 Facebook and 2 YouTube have been identified and letters have been sent for deleting the posts and details sought from the concerned platforms. The case was handed over to the Crime Branch by West District police." There were reports of violence in Panisagar in the North Tripura district on October 27. Following alleged violent clashes, Section 144, prohibiting the gathering of more than four people, was imposed in the Dharmanagar district of north Tripura.