Mangaluru: The Mangaluru City police arrested two persons for allegedly spreading inciting messages about the novel coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, April 14.

The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammed Ilyas and Abdul Basheer. Mangaluru City Commissioner of Police Dr P S Harsha informed that the accused were spreading misinformation, venomous and inflammatory content against the highest functionaries of the Government of India, including the Prime Minister and Home Minister of India. They are connected to the Facebook pages “Mikalto Bisaya”, he added.

The Police Commissioner also informed that during the preliminary investigation, the accused confessed their affiliation with the PFI/ SDPI and gave details of a broader network working behind the scenes. The cyber team is tracking all the culprits who are spread across the region. “Stringent legal action will be taken against the culprits. Anybody trying to sabotage the anti-COVID efforts will be firmly dealt with and no one will be spared,” Dr Harsha warned.

A case has been registered against the two under the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, section 67 of the Information Technology Act, section 54 of the Disaster Management Act 2005, and sections 188, 153, 505 of the IPC, police sources informed