The accused have been booked under Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). They were produced in court and were released on Tuesday after a thorough investigation. According to sources, the boys are neighbours and college-going students, and one of them is pursuing a degree in hotel management while the other is a BCom aspirant.

Arrests under Section 151 of the CrPC are to prevent the commission of cognisable offences. Under Sub-Section (1) of this law, no person arrested shall be detained in custody for a period exceeding twenty-four hours from the time of his arrest unless his further detention is required or authorised under any other provisions of the CrPC or of any other law for the time being in force.

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A relative of one of the teens told mid-day, “This wasn’t done with any ill intentions. It happened by mistake and the video was removed later. He received it on his Instagram page from a minor friend. The post included the messages ‘Happy Independence Day Pakistan’ and ‘Pakistan Zindabad!’ and a Pakistani flag. Subsequently, police officers visited our location, took my son into custody and interrogated him. He has now been released.”

The relative added, “We’ve consulted our local priest and advised them against engaging in such actions. We must remember that we live in India, which is our country. Unfortunately, social media is being exploited to target Indian Muslims.”

19
Age of both accused

With inputs from Faizan Khan