The days when sending a message that might land you in trouble have gone, now it’s receiving a message on WhatsApp keeps you in danger. A man who went to Chennai airport to pick up a friend arriving from the Gulf. But he was unaware of being caught by the police for a reason.

36-year-old Tadikala Akbar Saleem was taken into custody by the airport police and charged with sedition for a “random” audio message he received on WhatsApp that was deemed “anti-national”. Saleem was swiftly arrested, and the police registered a FIR under Section 124A of the IPC.

According to Section 124A of the IPC:

“Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the government established by law in India, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.”

According to the reports, Saleem from Andhra Pradesh was taken into custody by the air intelligence unit of the customs department, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Union home ministry, on Saturday (July 15). The message was considered as “anti-national” and a FIR was filed against Saleem.

Although, during the investigation and questioning, the airport authorities didn’t find any wrongdoing on the part of Saleem. The air intelligence unit forwarded their complaint to the airport police on Sunday.

On Monday, Saleem was presented before a magistrate. “His statement was taken and Saleem was released. The magistrate said there was no material evidence to prove an anti-national activity in that random WhatsApp message. Also, there was no call for violence,” an inspector from the airport police told.

On Monday, although, Saleem was released after a magistrate in Chennai told cops that a random message on a phone was no sign of any anti-national activities. After his release on the directives of the court, Saleem has reportedly returned to his village near Chennai though the police say it would continue to investigate as the case was “referred to by the customs department.”

The WhatsApp message, recorded in Urdu, was reportedly an appeal to all Muslims to assemble at Jantar Mantar for some protest. The alleged anti-national audio message, however, did not specify any time or date for the said protest. This is not the first time someone has landed in jail, albeit only for a day or two, over some WhatsApp message.

An officer told the newspaper that the appeal was made in the name of “Maulana (Syed) Asad Madani saheb” of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, a leading Muslim organization, and had originated in Malaysia. “It’s the first time we are getting a chance to show the power of Muslims,” the officer quoted the appeal as saying.

Remember that you cannot stop someone from sending you a message on the WhatsApp once the sender has your number. You can only block the sender after receiving the first message. This is the reason why nowadays people have so many spam messages on their smartphones.

In April, the district magistrate and senior superintendent of Varanasi in a joint order had said that any fake or incorrect news shared on any social media group could lead to a FIR filed against the group admins.