The Udupi Town Police on Thursday (July 3, 2025) booked Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sharan Pumpwell for hate speech in the town earlier in the day.

In his complaint, Udupi Town Police Sub-Inspector Bharatesh Kankanawadi said that when he was surfing social media on Thursday evening, he came across a video clip of Mr. Pumpwell’s address to the media. In it, the accused stated that the Kunjalu cow butchering issue in Brahmavara taluk was a “conspiracy by Islamist forces using Hindus” to create unrest in the country.

“Just as two Hindu youth were used by Islamist forces in the murder of Suhas Shetty in Bajpe on May 1, they might have used the six Hindus, who were arrested by the police later, to create unrest in society,” Mr. Pumpwell said in the video. He had also said “Islamist forces” were attempting to create unrest in society using Hindus.

The video clip in question was circulated widely on different social media platforms and had the potential to create unrest in society by fomenting enmity between groups on the ground of religion, the PSI said in his complaint. The statement, given when the investigation was in progress at a press conference, was aimed at creating unrest in society, he said.

Accordingly, police booked a case under Section 353 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita against Mr. Pumpwell for issuing statements conducing to mischief. Mr. Pumpwell’s statements were made at a press conference in Udupi on Thursday.