Sedition case against 11 youths over Pak flag 'photo'

A sedition case has been registered against 11 youths in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district after a photo emerged on social media purportedly showing them wearing shirts of the Pakistan flag, police said Wednesday.

Superintendent of Police (Dhanbad-Rural) Aman Kumar said five of the youths, suspected to have figured in the group photo, had been arrested on Wednesday. The police refused to share details of those arrested.

The district administration imposed Section 144 at Baidpur village on Tuesday evening after tension prevailed over the photo on social media purportedly showing the youths wearing the shirts of the Pakistan flag, Kumar said.

The SP said the situation was under control now.

The residents of Nirsa block, who were celebrating Indian airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Pakistan on Tuesday, saw the group photo of some local youths on social media, Kumar said.

They surrounded the houses of the 11 youths and vandalised them on Tuesday evening, the officer said, adding police used batons to control the situation.

Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner A Dodde, Senior Superintendent of Police Kishor Kaushal, sub-divisional magistrate Raj Maheswaram and Kumar went to the village and imposed Section 144 in the area.