A few youths, who had made reels displaying dangerous weapons, and posted them in social media are under the police scanner.

Madurai District Police have booked seven cases under the provisions of Arms Act, 1959 and are on the lookout for those persons.

In a drive against online rowdyism, Madurai District Police on Thursday booked the cases also for criminal intimidation under 351 (2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

“These posts are a threat to public tranquillity. The content are obviously instigating violence. In order to curtail rowdyism, we have booked those persons using the social media ids,” said Madurai Superintendent of Police, N. Devanathan.

The Social Media Cell of Tamil Nadu police had followed those ids in the social media and noted down the reels that were violent in nature.

Those reels had been posted in various months since 2025.

A glance at those reels showed videos in which one or more persons are displaying long swords, short and long knives. While one of them is seen in a sitting posture showing the long knife kept upside down, in another reels, a few youths are seen dancing over an overhead water tank by waving the weapons.

These youths had tried to copy movie scenes by adding background music or songs to show their ‘machoism.’

The wordings of the ‘gana’ song were also inciting in nature. One of the reels had words that said though route had changed, our habit wont change. Another person sent a message that even if one had to die, he should die fighting and not by falling on someone’s feet.

The ‘gana’ song in another reel blared: No one has survived, when I assault; and no one has the courage to attack me.

Interestingly, these posts also had followers who had liked them.

A senior police officer said that reels like these would instigate clashes if their rivals reacted to the posts. Some could also use these reels to create terror among the local people that could be used for extortion.

“In this modern days of social media, these posts would also misguide other youths into take the path of rowdyism,” the Superintendent of Police said.

This is the exact reason the police have booked them under the Arms Act, he added.

The SP said that even if someone had posted it only for ‘likes’ without knowing its import, he would not be spared. “Ignorance of law is definitely not an excuse,” he added.

The police would make meticulous follow-up and track the persons behind the posts and arrest them.

The provisions of Arms Act would attract jail for upto seven years or even life imprisonment. Similarly, the punishment for criminal intimidation could be upto two years of jail.