Facebook user who formed ‘I hate Ambedkar’ yet to be arrested

The truant unidentified user of facebook who created a facebook page “I Hate Ambedkar” which caused around 400 people in Mumbai to come on the streets shouting Slogans is yet to be arrested. When the news of the hate community spread in Mumbai, a mob as big as 400 people came together in Khar and Bandra and created a ruckus. It was so bad that the authorities had to intervene.

The people were demanding the community to be blocked from Facebook and the unidentified person to be arrested. Five rioters were arrested by the police for destroying vehicles and for throwing stones. The police are surprised and have no clue as to who could have mobilized such a large group of people to a particular place.

The police are certain that no local people are involved. Reports are coming about the fact that all disturbances started when a local newspaper Lokmanya reported that a Punjabi boy has started a hate community against Ambedkar in Facebook. When asked questions Amitabh Gupta, Additional Commissioner of Police (West) said, “No local leader is involved, but we are finding out who gathered so many people for the protest. We called in additional force and restrained the protesters by 3.30 am.”

Talking about the issue K.M.M. Prasanna, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone IX, said that arrest warrant has been issued against the unidentified person and the police also approached the court in order to direct an order against the Facebook page. Giving feedbacks Mr Prassanna said, “The court said that the contents of the webpage were grossly offensive and may cause a law and order situation. It directed the authorities to take immediate steps with the Chief Technical Officer of Facebook, U.S., for blocking or deleting the page.” The person who is the accused is yet to be arrested by the police.

The recent Facebook controversy prior to Ambedkar hate community was the Vaseline controversy where the users could clear their facebook profile picture by removing the dark spots. This was done to promote Vaseline men product but the plan backfired.

http://ic-technews.com/others/3604-facebook-user-who-formed-i-hate-ambedkar-yet-to-be-arrested

‘Hate page will be blocked by Tuesday night’

MUMBAI: The web page ‘I hate Ambedkar’ on a popular social networking site was still up and running 24 hours after a mob went on rampage in Bandra and Khar. The city crime branch has written to the Central Emergency Response Team (CERT) in New Delhi asking the body to block the page, which was uploaded five days ago. “We are hoping the page will be blocked by Tuesday night,” said an officer.

The police have yet to identify the person who put up the page, but a case has been registered against the unknown party, said an official. The Khar police have registered a case of creating enmity between two communities against unidentified persons who uploaded the page on the web site.

Though the page is believed to have been put up on February 10, it was only on Monday night that Dr B R Ambedkar’s followers were alerted of its existence. The violence of the protests took the police by surprise. “Even the top hierarchy of the city police had no idea of the trouble that was brewing because of the webpage,” said a senior official with the crime branch.

Crime branch chief, Himanshu Roy, said: “We contacted CERT and Facebook on Monday night itself. We requested them to block the page. Both have asked for a formal court order copy. On Tuesday, we got an order from a magistrate court, scanned it and e-mailed it to them.”

“When we send a court order copy, a decision is taken immediately. We are hoping that CERT will first block the page in India. We will request Facebook to block the page globally,” said an officer with the cyber crime department.

The police are also tracking the person who created the page. “We should be able to identify the accused once we get the Internet Protocol address from the networking site’s server,” said an official. The police are confident that the creator of the profile page will be arrested in the coming days. TOI has learnt that the National Technology Research Organization-an anti-web crime organization under the National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office-is also looking into the case.

The social networking site has a ‘report abuse’ link for members who wish to bring any questionable content to the management. On the clicking the link, the user is given a series of reasons for why he or she wishes to report the page. One of the reasons listed is ‘contains hate speech or attacks an individual’.

The ” I hate Ambedkar” page has created uproar on the internet, with surfers conducting waging an online battle on other websites as well.

Read more: ‘Hate page will be blocked by Tuesday night’ – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Hate-page-will-be-blocked-by-Tuesday-night/articleshow/7504883.cms#ixzz1E74m7pEZ

Facebook page on Ambedkar sparks row

VINAYA DESHPANDE

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Crowd damages public property in Khar, Bandra areas

More than 200 people damaged public property and indulged in rioting in the suburban areas of Khar and Bandra here late on Monday night, protesting a derogatory page on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on the social networking site, Facebook.

The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the rioters, K.M.M. Prasanna, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone IX, told The Hindu.

Offence registered

Mr. Prasanna said an offence was registered in the Khar police station against unknown persons who created the ‘I hate Ambedkar’ profile. Two separate cases of rioting have also been registered.

“We also approached the court today [Tuesday] to direct a competent authority to take action for blocking the derogatory page,” he said.

He said the court issued an order to the Director, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India, in the matter.

‘Grossly offensive’

“The court said that the contents of the webpage were grossly offensive and may cause a law and order situation. It directed the authorities to take immediate steps with the Chief Technical Officer of Facebook, U.S., for blocking or deleting the page,” he said.

Elaborating on the way the events unfolded, he said a local Marathi newspaper Loknayak carried an article on Monday stating that a “Punjabi munda had opened a page on Facebook and given a distorted profile of Mr. Ambedkar.”

“At around midnight, more than 200 people gathered outside Khar police station. A delegation demanded that we register a complaint and immediately arrest the person who has opened the page. They also demanded that the website be blocked immediately,” Mr. Prasanna said.

Stone-pelting

He said that by the time they could look into it, the crowd started rioting, shouting slogans, and pelting stones. “They blocked S.V. Road, Linking Road. Many of them were drunk. There were many women too among the protesters. We resorted to lathicharge. But after we dispersed them, they damaged around 20 vehicles in the area,” he said.

Regarding the page on Dr. Ambedkar, a case has been registered under Sections 295, 153, 505 of the Indian Penal Code read with section 66 (a,b) of the IT Act, he said.

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Police have approached court to block the derogatory page

Court fears the contents may cause law and order situation

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article1459918.ece