Former Amnesty India Head's Twitter Account Witheld After He Was Booked On Charges Of Provoking Rioting

The Twitter account of former Amnesty International India head Aakar Patel has been withheld in the country by the social messaging platform following a "legal demand".

The development comes days after Bengaluru police registered a case against Patel for allegedly provoking public mischief and rioting.

On 2 June, a suo motu case was registered against Patel on the basis of a complaint filed by JC Nagar police station inspector D R Nagaraja in the north Bengaluru police division, where the ex-Amnesty head resides, Indian Express has reported.

He has been booked under IPC Sections 505 (1) (b), 153 and 117 for allegedly provoking public mischief and rioting.

It should be noted that the Black Lives Matter protests were triggered in the United State following the death of an African-American Man, George Floyd, after a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes in the Minnesota's Minneapolis city. Four police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd were fired and have been charged by the prosecutors.

In the first week of June, demonstrators set fire to a strip mall in Los Angeles, looted stores in New York City and clashed with police in St Louis, Missouri, where four officers were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

As of 8 June, around 17 people had died in incidents stemming from the unrest following Floyd’s death.

Amid the violents protests, David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired St Louis police captain was shot and killed on 2 June by looters who broke into a pawn shop. Dorn had gone to the pawn shop, which belonged to his friend, to check on a burglar alarm.