Udupi: Former Zilla Panchayat member arrested for inciting communal tension by sharing an old video
Udupi: Kota police arrested a suspect on May 31 for inciting communal conflict and encouraging communal discord by sharing an old video on social media.
The arrested individual is Raghavendra Kanchan Barikere, a former Udupi Zilla Panchayat member. Several cases, including a double murder case, are already registered against him at the Kota police station. After his arrest, he was produced before the court, which ordered judicial custody.
Raghavendra had posted on social media an old video of a person named Riyaz Farangipete (a case related to this was already registered at the Mangalore Central Police Station in 2021), inciting local Hindu youth to communal strife and provoking communal tension. A case has been registered against him under FIR number 108/2025 at Kota police station, under sections 196 and 56 BNS.