Malappuram Man Charged With Sedition for Mocking Lt Col Niranjan

Malappuram man charged with sedition and arrested as his derogatory post on Facebook backfires.

Lt Col Niranjan died in the Pathankot terrorist attack. (Photo: PTI)

Kerala Police arrested 24-year-old Anwar Sadhik on charges of sedition for posting derogatory comments about the Pathankot martyr Lt Col EK Niranjan on Facebook.

Malappuram district police arrested Sadhik from his house in Kodur under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.

Claiming to be a journalist, Sadhik had posted derogatory comments about Lt Col Niranjan on Facebook on his account which was under the name Anu Anwar.

His post went: “Good- there goes one more trouble. Now his wife will be given a job and financial aid. Ordinary folks get nothing. Stinking democracy!”

His Facebook profile had a picture of a little girl as his profile image. The profile said he was a native of Malappuram, and that he was currently working with Malayalam daily Madhyamam.

The Chevayur police arrested Anwar on the basis of a complaint by the management of the Malayalam newspaper Madhyamam which categorically denied having any such employee on its rolls.

Anwar said that he had no vicious intentions and claims that he did not realise his actions could backfire.

<p> Only further investigations will prove a hidden agenda, if any.</p>

<b>Santhosh, Circle Inspector</b>

The initial investigation revealed that Anwar was a salesman in a ration shop and had nothing to do with the Madhyamam daily. He had mentioned the newspaper’s name in his profile just to sound credible.