Overview
- Police arrested Deepak Kumar on Thursday after trader Sanjeev Tonk complained that Deepak confronted, abused and threatened him over an adverse Facebook comment on a video about a mosque demolition.
- Officers initially charged Deepak under BNS sections for criminal intimidation and insult and then added sections for promoting enmity and voluntarily causing hurt after reviewing CCTV footage and photographs.
- The police made a preventive arrest under BNSS Section 170 citing risk to law and order and produced Deepak before the SDM, who granted bail on Friday after he furnished bonds and issued a six-month peace notice under BNSS Section 130.
- Local traders staged protests at the Kotwali police station demanding action, prompting flag marches, extra security in Kotdwar and active monitoring of social media by police.
- Deepak first drew national attention in January when a viral video showed him defending an elderly Muslim shopkeeper and identifying himself as ‘Mohammad Deepak’, a history that his supporters and critics say has shaped the tensions now under investigation.