Youth arrested over social media posts ‘threatening’ Himachal Deputy CM, Gagret MLA

A youth has been arrested for allegedly posting threatening messages on Facebook targeting Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and Gagret Congress MLA Rakesh Kalia, Una police said on Saturday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Haroli Mohan Rawat said the accused, who is an engineering graduate, was traced and asked to surrender after which he reached the Haroli police station, where he was taken into custody.

The arrest followed a complaint by Haroli Youth Congress president Shubhan Joshi against the youth. On the basis of the statements of the complainant, a case had been registered against the youth at the Haroli police station on Thursday night under relevant sections and further action was initiated, the officer said.

The police complaint was filed in connection with replies from a social media user by the name ‘Sharp Shooter Nabahi wala’ to a post on Facebook on the arrest of notorious gangster Amrish Rana.

On Friday evening, in a post on Facebook, ‘Sharp Shooter Nabahi wala’ said, “I apologise to the Deputy CM and the MLA. The post was sent by mistake and I will not make such comments in future.”

An investigation is under way to know whether the post was written by the accused on his own or some other conspirator is behind it, the DSP said.