As the trigger of the clashes between two groups leading to the death of a man in Akola city on May 13 was an Instagram handle by the name XYZZZZZ99988, police are on the lookout of the account holder and said that the account, which appeared to be fake, was deleted minutes after sending provocative messages.
Police have so far arrested 147 people over the incident. While some areas of the Old City in Akola still remain under curfew, internet access was restored across the district by Tuesday. “Certain restrictions will remain in place till the situation is completely under control,” said an official.
According to police, the Instagram account had an extended communication with a member of the minority community in which both users hurled abuses and made communal remarks. The screenshots of these messages that were circulated led people to gather at the Ramdaspeth police station, demanding action against the perpetrators. The gathering then turned violent, resulting in the death of 39-year-old Vilas Gaikwad, an electrician and sole breadwinner of his family.
Meanwhile, police are trying to trace the person who was using the Instagram account, which has now been deleted.
Superintendent of Akola police, Sandip Ghuge, said, “We have written to Instagram seeking details on the account holder. We have also sought help from our cyber teams and are trying to find its IP address.”
Police said that the suspicious account, which seems to be fake, was deleted soon after the chat with the complainant ended.
During the course of the conversation, police said that the anonymous account holder had shared two mobile numbers with the complainant, which he claimed to be his numbers.
“In the whole conversation, both of them were just abusing and instigating each other. And when the complainant demanded his number, the anonymous account holder shared two numbers, which later appeared to be of police constable Raj Giri and another of a police informer, Karan Sahu,” said an investigating officer.
Sahu, who has around six cases registered against him, is untraceable since May 13 and a team has been sent to Bhopal to trace him.
“I don’t know what was the intention behind sharing my number. I did not get any calls from anyone,” said Raj Giri, a police constable whose number was shared from the fake account.
During the conversation, the anonymous account holder who posed as Sahu also challenged the complainant to come to his house at Harihar Peth in Old city.
“It was due to the challenge that a group of individuals went to Hariharpeth from Ramdas Peth police station, looking for him. But when they could not find him, the group turned violent and started pelting stones,” said an officer.