Karnataka Youth Picked Up by Cops 'Warned' for Sharing Pro-Palestine Video

"The person was not arrested, nor was any criminal case registered against him," a police official said.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

A 20-year-old man was let off with a warning by the Hospet Police in Karnataka's Vijayanagara district after he allegedly shared a pro-Palestine video as his status on WhatsApp on Thursday, 12 October.

"The person was not arrested, nor was any criminal case registered against him," an official from the Hospet Police told The Quint.

What happened? A notice by Hospet Police stated that the police found that some residents of a locality in Hospet were "found spreading divisive content on social media in support of Palestine" amid the Israel-Palestine war.

The youth in question had "uploaded videos with 'Palestine Zindabad' slogan as his status," and that it could "potentially disturb peace and harmony" in the area, the notice stated.

And then? The police invoked Sections 108 (security for good behaviour from persons disseminating seditious matters) and 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to bring the youth in for questioning on Thursday. He was let off with a warning.

The youth reportedly works as an attender at the minority cell in Hospet.

Israel-Palestine conflict: Israel on Friday, 13 October, ordered the evacuation of 1.1 million people from northern Gaza within 24 hours amid its ongoing war against Palestinian militant group Hamas, days after the latter launched an attack on Israel on Saturday, 7 October.