The Tamil Nadu Police on Wednesday filed first information reports against journalist Piyush Rai, Bharatiya Janata Party’s social media cell head Amit Malviya and an Ayodhya-based seer in connection with the controversy over state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on sanatana dharma, the Deccan Herald reported.

At a press conference in Chennai on September 2, the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had said that sanatana dharma – a term often associated with Hinduism – was akin to dengue and malaria and should be “eradicated”.

On Wednesday, the police in Madurai registered a case against Ayodhya’s Tapasvi Chhawani Temple’s seer Ramchandra Das Paramhans Acharya for announcing a Rs 10 crore bounty on the head of the sports minister.

The police also named Rai, an Uttar Pradesh-based journalist with The Quint news website, in the FIR for posting a video of the seer’s comments. A complaint by J Devasenan, the convener of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Madurai unit legal wing, alleged that the video caused fear among the people of Tamil Nadu and may lead to communal riots.

Acharya and Rai have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 153 (provocation to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different sections of people), 504 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 505(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 506(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation).

Following demands from journalists to withdraw the FIR against Rai, the police told The News Minute that they will seek legal opinion before taking action against him.

Meanwhile, the Tiruchirappalli Police booked Malviya on charges of distorting Stalin’s comments and spreading misinformation to create enmity among different sections of people, PTI reported.

In a post on X, the BJP leader had claimed that Stalin had called for “genocide” of 80% of the population of India that follows sanatana dharma.

A complaint by a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam functionary alleged that Malviya continued to spread “fake news” even after Stalin issued a clarification that he never called for a genocide.

MK Stalin defends son

MK Stalin on Thursday defended his son’s statement, saying that he had no intention of offending any religion, reported ANI. The chief minister accused “pro-BJP” forces of spreading a false narrative and alleged that they were unable to tolerate the statement against the “oppressive principles”.

“The social media mob nurtured by the BJP has widely circulated this falsehood in northern states,” he claimed. “However, Hon’ble minister Udhayanidhi Stalin never used the word ‘genocide’ in either Tamil or English. Still, lies were spread claiming so.”

MK Stalin said that even Union ministers such as Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh shared “the same lie and condemned Udhayanidhi”.

The DMK leader also asked if the Uttar Pradesh government took action against the seer who announced a Rs 10 crore bounty on the head of the sports minister. It was evident, MK Stalin said, that the BJP was not concerned about the “discriminatory practices in sanatana” but is desperate to create fissures in the Opposition alliance, INDIA.

“It doesn’t take a political genius to recognise this as a political gimmick,” he added.