• By Imran Zafar
  • Fri, 19 Jul 2024 09:00 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

A tattoo artist in Bengaluru came under police scrutiny after posting a photo of a tattoo with an offensive message to the police department. The incident occurred as a tattoo artist, Ritesh Aghariya (41), who operates Tattoo Sutra in central Bengaluru, uploaded an image on Instagram of a chest tattoo containing a message insulting the police.

The post caught the attention of a police sub-inspector and social media in-charge at Cubbon Park police station, who spotted the Instagram post while monitoring social media. He immediately alerted his senior officers after the post was flagged to the Bengaluru Police’s X handle by an X user. The user tagged the police and wrote, ''@BlrCityPolice pls have a look,'' alongside a screenshot of the tattoo.

Following this, the Cubbon Park police registered a case against the tattoo artist under Section 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with causing intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace. The case was lodged after obtaining permission from the 41st magistrate court, allowing the police to file an FIR the following day.

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During the investigation, the tattoo artist confessed to posting the photo on Instagram Stories but claimed that a foreigner had gotten the tattoo at his studio and that he had mistakenly uploaded the picture while reviewing old photos. 

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Given the nature of the offence, which carries a punishment of less than seven years, the artist was not detained but was instructed to appear before the investigation officer when summoned. The tattoo artist was released with a warning against repeating the offence.