Aurangabad rural police has registered the offence of promoting enmity between different groups against 80 persons since the beginning of this year, an official said.
Thirteen First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered in these matters, he added. Aurangabad city, notably, had witnessed communal violence ahead of the Ram Navami festival this year.
Many of these cases concerned messages, posts or videos circulated on social media, the police official said. Superintendent of Police Maneesh Kalwaniya appealed people to verify any message before forwarding it.
The cases were registered under Indian Penal Code sections 153 (rioting), 153 (A) (promoting enmity on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, etc), 295 (defiling place of worship).