A case has been registered against BJP Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya and editors of multiple Kannada news portals for allegedly spreading false information concerning a farmer's suicide in Haveri district. The police initiated action after Surya shared a social media post linking the death to a land dispute involving the Waqf Board, which local authorities later refuted.On November 7, Surya, who represents Bengaluru South, posted an article from Kannada news outlets on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that farmer Rudrappa Channappa Balikai had died by suicide due to the alleged takeover of his land by the Waqf Board.
Surya used this post to criticize the state government’s handling of minority affairs, asserting that its policies were causing unrest in Karnataka. The post was subsequently deleted when it became clear that the claims were incorrect.Haveri district’s Superintendent of Police clarified that Balikai’s suicide had occurred on January 6, 2022, and was unrelated to any Waqf Board land dispute. The SP explained that financial strain from crop losses and outstanding loans led to the farmer’s death. A final report under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) had already been submitted, with no additional investigation in progress. "The information shared by Tejasvi Surya is completely false," stated the SP. "No such incident occurred, and the shared information is misleading."
In response, Haveri district police filed a case under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for circulating statements likely to incite hatred or enmity among groups. The case was registered following a complaint from an official with the district’s social media monitoring cell. Alongside Surya, editors of two Kannada news portals, Kannada Dunia and Kannada News, are also named in the FIR for their role in spreading the unverified report. The incident has stirred political controversy, with opposition parties accusing the BJP MP of attempting to incite communal tensions through misinformation.