An FIR has been registered against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu for his alleged remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the statements he made in the US about the condition of Sikhs in India, police said on Thursday. The case was filed based on a complaint by one of the officer-bearers of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, they said.

“The FIR was registered under sections 353 (2) (making, publishing or circulating a statement or report with false information, rumors, or alarming news), 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot- if rioting be committed; if not committed) and 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at High Grounds police station here,” a police officer said.

Attacking the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha over the statements about the condition of Sikhs in India, the Minister of State for Railways on Sunday said if those “manufacturing bombs” were supporting him, he is the “number one terrorist”. Condemning the statement, the Congress had said Bittu was talking “like a senseless man”.