Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Aug 17: Naveen, a nephew of Pulikeshi Nagar Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, who has been blamed for fomenting disturbances by making a derogatory post about the Prophet on Facebook, has clarified that he had not created any post on his own to target anyone. "I had just passed a comment for certain posts created by other people," he said during his interrogation.

Giving clarifications to queries made to him about the derogatory post, Naveen asserted to the police that he had posted his comment to certain posts made by certain persons where Hindu gods and goddesses were insulted. He said he had just responded to these posts by way of comment.

Naveen (left) and Bengaluru violence (file photo)

"After I posted the comment, Akhanda Srinivas Murthy asked me to delete it. Accordingly, I had deleted what I had posted. I had commented for a post created by Firoze Khan, who was the mastermind behind the disturbances. I had searched for images via Google for passing the comment I wanted to make. I copied an image from there and posted in the comment box," he stated.

Naveen clarified that in the past, he had made some comments on ruckus created by vandals in Padarayanapura, and also when anti-CAA and NRC protests were held. "I have just commented on the posts made by others. On my own, I have never created any posts. On the occasion of laying the foundation stone for Ram Janmabhoomi, I had distributed sweets and burst crackers. At that time, I had received threatening calls from unknown numbers. Miscreants had called me to pose threats to my life," he alleged.

Naveen, recalling earlier incidents, said that he did not get bogged down by such threat calls. The police have recorded his statements.