Police in Dundee are probing claims a Dundee councillor sent Islamophobic texts to a Muslim colleague in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.
Craig Melville is alleged to have sent a number of texts to an unnamed woman the day after the Paris attacks. The city council’s environment convener has been suspended from the SNP and from his job as an aide to SNP deputy leader and Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ”Police Scotland can confirm that a complaint was made on Monday January 18 2016. Inquiries are at an early stage.”
The woman on the receiving end of the alleged messages said she is not taking the matter further.
Speaking before confirmation of the police inquiry, the woman, an SNP member, said she was happy to let the party deal with the investigation.
Labour group leader Kevin Keenan had also called for a full police probe.
He said: “I hope that Police Scotland has been closely following the details of this case as they have emerged to see if they should be involved.”
Mr Keenan also issued a strongly worded appeal to Dundee City Council’s SNP administration and voters.
He added: “The language that is alleged to have been used is far from that of the SNP. It is more akin to the BNP.
“If there is a cancer at the heart of the SNP group then it must be cut out.”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said Mr Melville “remains a councillor” and would continue to represent his Maryfield ward during any investigation.
With no reply at his home and his mobile phone switched off, Mr Melville remained unavailable for comment.