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Surya also took the opportunity to criticize the state government’s handling of minority issues and alleged that the administration’s actions were creating unrest in Karnataka. The post was later removed after it was discovered that the claims were baseless. Haveri district Superintendent of Police (SP) clarified that the suicide of Rudrappa Channappa Balikai took place on January 6, 2022, but it was not related to any land dispute of the Waqf Board. The SP confirmed that the reason for suicide was financial pressure due to crop loss and outstanding loans.
A case has been registered against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Tejasvi Surya and editors of several Kannada news portals for allegedly spreading fake news regarding the suicide of a farmer in Haveri district. The police took action after the MP shared a post on social media linking the death to a land dispute involving the Waqf Board, which was later refuted by local authorities. On November 7, Tejasvi Surya, representing Bengaluru South, shared an article from Kannada news portals on Platform X, which claimed that a farmer, Rudrappa Channappa Balikai, had committed suicide.
Surya also took the opportunity to criticize the state government’s handling of minority issues and alleged that the administration’s actions were creating unrest in Karnataka. The post was later removed after it was discovered that the claims were baseless. Haveri district Superintendent of Police (SP) clarified that the suicide of Rudrappa Channappa Balikai took place on January 6, 2022, but it was not related to any land dispute of the Waqf Board. The SP confirmed that the reason for suicide was financial pressure due to crop loss and outstanding loans.
A final report under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) had already been submitted, and no fresh investigation was conducted in the case. The SP said in a statement that the news shared by Tejaswi Surya is completely false. “No such incident was reported, and the information presented is misleading.
