Actor Prakash Raj has filed a complaint against Postcard news accusing the online portal of publishing derogatory articles against him on 4 April.
The actor, who went to Cubbon Park police station in Bengaluru on Wednesday, lodged a formal complaint stating that the website carried articles against him in the past few months that were defamatory and derogatory in nature.
He said that the website had started publishing the derogatory articles after he started criticising the PM for his alleged silence on the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.
Police have registered an FIR under the provisions of the IT Act.
The articles became very personal in nature. I was unable to file a complaint as their website gave no clarity on who was authoring these articles. Now that the police have arrested one of the co-founders, there is some hope.Prakash Raj speaking to The Hindu.
The complaint comes less than a week after the Central Crime Branch arrested Mahesh Vikram Hegde, the owner of the website, for allegedly promoting communal enmity and trying to tarnish the Congress government in Karnataka.
The arrest was made following a complaint that the website had spread false news that a Jain Muni, who was injured in a road accident, was attacked by a Muslim youth.
The arrest comes at a time when Karnataka is all set for the assembly elections amid a deluge of fake news.
Postcard News has come under fire from Congress leaders and many others in the state for deliberately exaggerating or reporting false news stories, especially on communal events.
(The story originally published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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