The Instagram user allegedly encouraged Mohammed Sahil to create unrest in India and offered and arrange a pistol for him. (File Photo)The police have arrested a 24-year-old tea seller in Karnataka’s Raichur district on charges including terrorist conspiracy after he allegedly requested a pistol and exchanged provocative messages aimed at a community in chats with a social media user.The police said they detected on August 8 that Mohammed Sahil, a resident of Gandhi Chowk in Raichur, had liked and shared allegedly provocative and hateful content posted by an Instagram account called awais_rajpoot10.“His activity continued for around 15 days and triggered an alert in our social media monitoring cell,” Superintendent of Police Arunangshu Giri said while addressing the media on Thursday.According to the FIR, Sahil contacted the Instagram user, called “Rana Bhai”, on July 14 and asked, “Bhai, mujhe ek pistol chahiye thi bhai, milegi? (Brother, I want a pistol. Can you get me one?” The Instagram user then shared a WhatsApp number and asked Sahil to provide his contact details.The police said a subsequent examination of Sahil’s phone revealed that the two had several WhatsApp conversations, voice calls, and audio messages with alleged hateful content targeting a community. He also sent a photograph of his tea stall to the other person.Also Read | Karnataka Police arrest UP man over foreign contacts; probe wider linksAccording to the FIR, the unidentified person also encouraged Sahil to create unrest in India and offered to provide money and arrange a pistol for him.Police ascertaining identity of ‘Rana Bhai’The police said Sahil told them that the social media user was from an Arab country. They are ascertaining the identity and location of the person behind the “Rana Bhai” accounts.Story continues below this adThe police are also examining whether the communications involved discussions about activities that could affect India’s sovereignty, unity, integrity, and national security.“Based on the material recovered from his phone, we registered a case and questioned him. He was subsequently produced before the court, which remanded him to judicial custody,” Giri said.The police registered a case at the Sadar Bazar station on charges related to terrorist conspiracy and stoking hatred or disharmony between communities.