Poet, journalist arrested in Karnataka after complaint by BJP leader over anti-CAA poem

A poet and a journalist have been arrested in connection with recital of a poem against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizen (NRC) at a government sponsored function in Koppal district of Karnataka last month, police said on Wednesday (19 February). The arrests were made based on a complaint from a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary alleging that Siraj Bisaralli, a poet had recited an anti-CAA poem at ‘Anegundi Utsava’ in Gangavathi town of Koppal district in January and Rajabakshi, editor of an online news portal uploaded it on social media. [caption id=“attachment_8061891” align=“alignnone” width=“1200”] File images of Rajabakshi and Siraj Bisaralli.[/caption] The police had registered a case against them under section 505 of IPC (statements conducing to public mischief). On Tuesday, Bisaralli and Rajabakshi surrendered before a court in that district, which rejected their bail plea and remanded them to police custody for investigation into the matter. “Siraj had recited the poem and Rajabakshi had shared it on the social media. Based on a complaint by a BJP leader the case was registered under section 505 of the IPC. They went absconding after that and surrendered before the court on Tuesday,” a police officer said. The duo sought an interim bail, which the public prosecutor objected to and sought police custody to conduct inquiry. The court sent Bisaralli and Rajabakshi to police custody till Wednesday afternoon. “We may not seek further extension of their custody until some fresh evidences surface. We have seized their mobile phones to ascertain whom they had shared the details with,” the police said.