Jaipur: The principal of a government school in Rajasthan’s Kota district was arrested for deleting some posts on Ganesh Chaturthi from a WhatsApp group of the school committee.
According to police, the social media group of Government Higher Secondary School in Latoori includes residents of the village.
After one of the village residents posted a message in the group on Saturday to greet others on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, the principal, belonging to Muslim community, deleted the messages.
A teacher posted a similar message some time later, which was also deleted by the principal, Muhammed Shafiq.
This prompted villagers to stage a protest, demanding the principal’s removal and arrest.
Based on their complaint, police registered an FIR under Section 196 (disturbing communal harmony) of BNS and arrested Ansari on charges of disturbing peace in the locality.
“The principal belongs to a minority community. On Friday, he deleted two posts on a WhatsApp group of the Block School Development Committee that enraged the other members including a few teachers of the Hindu community. They started staging a protest in front of the school. We have arrested the principal for attempting to disturb the social harmony,” said Uttam Singh, station house officer (SHO) of Kota’s Bapawar Kala.
According to police, the principal said he deleted the messages by mistake.
“It seems a bit unusual as he did it twice within two hours. We are questioning him. Further investigation is underway,” the SHO said, adding that the area is now peaceful.
