The Karnataka Police have registered six separate FIRs, five in the Bantwal town of Dakshina Kannada district and one in Bengaluru, following alleged attempts on social media to portray the murder of a 24-year-old woman by her distant relative at a bus depot in Bantwal in a communal light.Lavanya Gowda, a nurse at a private clinic, was allegedly hacked to death using a machete at the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus depot on B C Road in Bantwal on the evening of July 16. The accused, her distant relative Chethan G, 22, allegedly killed her after she repeatedly ignored his demands for a relationship.Following the murder, social media handles from across the political spectrum began circulating false posts in the communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada region, alternately claiming the accused belonged to a minority community or linking him to various right-wing and left-wing political groups to fan communal passions.The Bantwal police registered five FIRs for alleged statements conducive to public mischief, involving the spread of false information and rumours to trigger disturbances in society.A prominent right-wing social media activist, Kiran Aradhya, was booked after he allegedly posted comments suggesting the accused belonged to a minority community based on his attire and appearance.“He probably knows that even if they arrest him, Congress will quietly withdraw the case. Be that as it may, just hope the RSS gets registered soon,” Aradhya is alleged to have posted on social media, according to a complaint filed by Mohammed Siraj, a Bantwal businessman, on July 17 in the Bantwal Town police station.Aradhya moved the Karnataka High Court Monday seeking a stay on the FIRs. BJP MP and advocate Tejasvi Surya announced he would personally represent Aradhya before the High Court.Story continues below this adIn one of the other four FIRs at Bantwal, Keshav Daipala, a social worker in the region, has alleged that an Instagram account of troll_master and five others had attempted to project the accused in the murder case as a Hindutva activist. In a similar FIR, Santhosh Sarvaddi, a social worker, has alleged that one Shailaja Amarnath portrayed the accused as a right-wing Hindutva activist.An FIR filed by activist Manohar Kulai alleges that social media accounts associated with activist Chethan Belchada attempted to portray the accused in a murder case as a Congress worker. Additionally, an FIR filed by Yashwanth Poojar from the Billava Brigade claims that a social media account belonging to Harsha Shetty depicted the accused as a member of the backward caste Billava community.Also Read | Karnataka doctor murdered, son stabbed inside Dharwad home. Wife is suspectLavanya, who was a resident of Kakkepadavu village in the Bantwal Rural region, worked at a private nursing home in Kalladka, and she was waiting for a bus at the KSRTC new bus stand on B C Road around 6 pm when Chetan approached her with a machete concealed in his bag.On noticing the weapon, Lavanya tried to flee, but he allegedly chased her and attacked her repeatedly in public before escaping, leaving the weapon behind. Chetan allegedly tried to die by suicide but was found and admitted to a hospital, the Bantwal police said.Story continues below this adAccording to a police complaint filed by the victim’s brother-in-law, Gautam Gowda, on July 16, shortly after the murder, Chethan had been attempting to win over Lavanya for several months but had faced rejection from the nurse.On the day of the murder, the brother-in-law received a call from his wife, who is the older sister of the victim. She informed him that Lavanya was being troubled by Chethan and urged Gautam to check on her.When Gautam called Lavanya, she was at the bus stand. During the call, she told him she was being harassed by Chethan, and soon after, he heard her screams and cries. According to the police complaint, Gautam then sent a friend from BC Road to check on his sister-in-law at the bus stand, only to learn that Chethan had killed her.