A doctor serving at a hospital in Brahmavara, Udupi, Dr. Keerthan Upadhya, sparked widespread controversy due to an allegedly offensive tweet posted from his account. On July 13, in response to a question about what he would remove from the world, Dr. Upadhya’s reply, targeting the “Muslim community,” stirred significant uproar on social media.
The incident quickly went viral, prompting severe backlash against Dr. Upadhya, with many social media users tagging Karnataka DGP demanding action against him for the inflammatory remarks. Dr. Upadhya, in response, claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked. He stated, “I had stopped using Twitter a few months back and realized something unwanted was posted. Someone was using my account. I have changed my password, login details, and everything related to the account. My account was hacked. Apologies to all here.”
Following the controversy, Dr. Upadhya deleted the contentious tweet and locked his Twitter profile, restricting access to his account and tweets. Mohammed Zubair of Alt News, a fact-checking organization, noted these actions taken by Dr. Upadhya.
In response to the uproar, the Udupi police initiated a suo moto case against Dr. Keerthan Upadhya at the Udupi town police station.
The incident has raised concerns about social media accountability and the impact of inflammatory statements made by public figures, especially in sensitive communal contexts.