Days after some fringe organisations in Bhopal warned of a backlash if people behind an allegedly offensive social media post on goddess Kali were not arrested, the Bhopal police, in a joint operation with the Mumbai police, took two Muslim youths from Maharashtra’s Antop Hill into custody and brought them to Madhya Pradesh.

On May 10, several activists in Bhopal had approached the police demanding action against people who, they alleged, had liked an offensive post against goddess Kali on a Facebook group called Naadan Parinday. Some of the posts on the group were also critical of the Prime Minister, police said.

SP (north) Bhopal Arvind Saxena told The Indian Express that Ali Shaikh, who works as a bodyguard, and Abdul Qureshi, who runs an electronics shop, were arrested from Antop Hill and brought to Bhopal three days ago in connection with the case. Police had formed a Special Investigation Team in the wake of the complaints.