A Bengaluru artist has found himself in hot water after posting a tattoo with a message about police on Instagram Stories. Ritesh Aghariya, the 41-year-old CEO of Tattoo Sutra on Brigade Road, is set to face legal proceedings after the incident. The incident transpired after a photo of a tattoo on someone’s right side of the chest that read, “F*** the police,” was noticed by the city authorities’ X handle.
The photo was found at about 10 pm on 16th July by sub-inspector Chethan SG, the Cubbon Park police station’s social media in charge. He discovered it on the “tattoo.sutra” account’s Instagram Stories, where @TilakSadive uploaded a screenshot tagging the local police handle and asking for their attention. The official informed his top authorities right away, and they instructed him to lodge a complaint which stated the tweet was derogatory and showed disrespect for the police force and a non-cognizable report was submitted the same evening.
@BlrCityPolice pls have a look pic.twitter.com/xwB78Q81Iu
— Tilak Theja (@TilakSadive) July 16, 2024
A First Information Report (FIR) was then filed with the 41st magistrate court under section 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which addresses intentional insult with the purpose of creating a breach of peace. The Instagram story was shared at approximately 10:30 pm on 15th July. A senior officer clarified that while the offence carries a sentence of less than seven years, the artist was not placed under arrest and was instead told to show up for additional interrogation.
Ritesh Aghariya acknowledged sharing the picture and voiced it was an error he committed while going through older photographs. He stressed that he did not remember many specifics regarding the foreign client who had the tattoo inked at his store. Authorities have cautioned against offensive content and emphasized their vigilance over social media posts.
“We detained the accused for interrogation and instructed him to appear before the investigation officer when summoned again. Since the offence has less than seven years’ punishment, we didn’t put him behind bars. Ritesh confessed to having uploaded the photo on Instagram Stories. He said a foreigner had visited his shop and got that tattoo on his chest. He was checking some old photos and uploaded the picture by mistake. He further claimed he doesn’t remember more details of the customer. We’ve been keeping a close eye on posts uploaded on social media accounts. If we come across anyone uploading any derogatory posts, action will be initiated. We warn people not to indulge in such acts,” informed an official.
