Bengaluru, June 11: Two youths have been arrested by the Bengaluru police for abusing Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in a viral video. The arrests were made by officials of High Grounds police station in the city. The duo have been booked under IPC Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 499 (defamation).

The two detainees - Sidharaju, 26, and Chama Gowda, 28 - are charged of recording a 28-second video in which they used expletives against the Karnataka CM and his son for the Congress-JD(S) rout in the state in recent Lok Sabha polls. Vishweshwar Bhat, Kannada Paper Editor, Faces FIR For 'Malicious News Report' on HD Deve Gowda's Grandsons

The video was later uploaded on Facebook. As the clip went viral, it triggered a controversy with supporters and cadres of the Janata Dal (Secular) taking offence to it.

The arrests of Sidharaju and Chama comes nearly a fortnight after veteran Kannada journalist Vishweshwar Bhat was taken into custody for an alleged defamatory article against Nikhil Kumaraswamy.

The scribe had alleged in his story that Nikhil, after losing the elections in Mandya to independent candidate - actress Sumalatha Ambareesh - created ruckus at a Mysuru hotel. The article claimed that he even abused his family members for failing to ensure his win from the JD(S) bastion.

The Editors' Guild of India had condemned Bhatt's arrest, calling it violative of press freedom and an attempt to "strife the right to freedom of expression".

The arrests in Karnataka comes amid a huge controversy in Uttar Pradesh, where five people, including three journalists, have been arrested for sharing an "objectionable" video against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The clip shows a woman accusing the CM of sending her a marriage proposal.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 11, 2019 03:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).