Sources in the Bengaluru police confirmed that the four men who were involved in the incident have been questioned, and they’ve given a formal reply.

Bengaluru: The incident involving a group of men who heckled senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai at a restaurant has taken a new turn. Sources in the Bengaluru police told ThePrint that the four men who were involved in the incident have been questioned, and they’ve given a formal reply during interrogation.

The Bengaluru police identified the four accused as IT professionals who were present at that time in the restaurant. Umesh B.R., Chandrashekaraiah, Srikanth K. and Pradeep C., all work in leading companies.

After being questioned, the four men were left with a warning. No further action could be taken as Sardesai is yet to file a formal complaint with the Bengaluru police.

Contrary to claims on social media, no arrests have been made. In fact, the police have made it clear that no formal FIR has been filed, and while an investigation is on, no one has been arrested so far.

“They (the accused) came with their lawyer and told us how they have watched Sardesai during debates. They felt that he made many anti-Hindu statements, which had angered them. So they confronted him,” said Manjunath, inspector at the Ashoknagar police station in Bengaluru.

Today we called 4 persons to police station in connection to twitter complainant. All four of them came to police station along with an advocate, given their written reply and went. No detentions made by police. — ASHOK NAGAR BCP (@ashoknagarps) May 8, 2018

In a video that went viral, a man was seen heckling Sardesai in a restaurant. Sardesai was sitting with his team and having a meal when a man wearing a blue striped shirt turned up, saying: “You are born in India, don’t hate Hindus.”

An onlooker, Girish Alva, tweeted the video stating how another Madison Square-like episode was unfolding in Bengaluru for the senior journalist and television anchor. Some Indian Americans had surrounded Sardesai in New York in 2014 and heckled and hurled abuses at him ahead of a public event addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Rajdeep's Madison Square Moment in BLR Today" During breakfast in a Richmond Circle restaurant, unknown angry techie shouts at him: Techie: You are born in India, dont hate Hindus.

Rajdeep: Don't you hv any decency.

Techie: You dont have decency. U spread so much crap in news! pic.twitter.com/9JpU8UWmYM — Girish Alva (@girishalva) May 7, 2018

Meanwhile, fellow journalists and the twitterati at large came out in support of Sardesai for maintaining calm in the tense situation, unlike in New York.

Saying that the support on social media had been overwhelming, Sardesai tweeted:

Thank you! Have received overwhelming love and appreciation always, esp in Karnataka. It's the most beautiful state in India! India is bigger, much bigger and civilised than the odd lout! https://t.co/CYaG7uRxq3 — Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 9, 2018

Alva, who also faced several trolls, tagged the Bengaluru city police, who took up the case based on his Twitter feed and called in the accused for questioning.

How the speculation arose

The speculation over arrests began with a tweet by one Smita Barooah, which went viral with thousands of comments and likes.

Reading that the young man who heckled Rajdeep in #Karnataka is in police custody. Is it true? If it is, is there an FIR? Under what law had he been taken in? Sounds like total abuse of power — Smita Barooah (@smitabarooah) May 8, 2018

Among those who fell prey to the misinformation was filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, who had retweeted about the heckler’s custody. He later tweeted out a clarification.

As it turns out, there have been no arrests in the matter concerned to #RajdeepSardesai. My reaction was instinctive, as his so called ‘fight for FoE’ is always colored with his biased journalism. But I’m against any kind of #FakeNews, which is why I’m deleting my earlier tweet. — Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) May 8, 2018

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