Man booked for hatching ‘fake exodus’ plot in Meerut

MEERUT: Days after a fake ‘exodus’ was reported from Prahlad Nagar, posters with ‘house on sale’ that appeared outside over 10 houses in Shashtri Nagar have now been exposed as part of another similar campaign.
The stunt was revealed once local administration sent a team, comprising the circle officer, additional city magistrate and local police, to probe into the matter.It appears the campaign was mounted to put pressure on a local house owner, who was planning to sell his property to a prospective buyer from a different community, not to go ahead with his plan.

According to police, the posters were put up at the behest of one Rakesh Goyal, who wanted to put pressure on the house owner so that he sells the house at a price lower than what his prospective customer from a different community had agreed upon. The complainant, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, wanted to sell one of the two houses he owns in the area to fund his daughter’s wedding, and had accepted an offer for Rs 23 lakh.
Gupta alleged that Goyal was trying to buy the house for Rs 18 lakh, which he had refused after a buyer from a different community had quoted Rs 23 lakh. This did not go down well with Goyal, so he allegedly tried to provoke a communal scare with the fake exodus campaign, hoping this would put social pressure on Gupta to sell the house to him.
“There are already 15-20 Muslim families in the locality. Rakesh Goyal incited several Hindu families in the locality to put up posters of sale outside their houses, in a bid to stoke communal scare,” Gupta said in his complaint. “Goyal and other residents had come over to my place on July 19 and threatened me of dire consequences if I sold my property to anyone else,” he said.
Based on Gupta’s complaint, an FIR under sections 109 (abetment), 147 (rioting), 504 (insult to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC has been lodged at Nauchandi police station against the two accused named by Gupta — Goyal and Purnendu Sharma — as well as several others who remain unidentified.
Meerut SP (city) Akhilesh Narayan Singh said, “Goyal and others had argued with complainant over sale of property on July 19, following which, identical posters of ‘house on sale’ were put up outside several houses in the locality,” adding, “After investigation, strict and appropriate action will be taken against those who are trying to disturb social harmony.”
Despite police and local administration issuing warnings of strict action, this is not the first time a similar plot has been hatched. Not too long ago, local BJP leaders had claimed that more than 200 Hindu families in Prahlad Nagar have migrated, hinting at communal tensions behind the ‘exodus’.
Senior police and administrative officials rebutted their claims, which was later also voiced by CM Yogi Adityanath, who had said, “There is no exodus. Who will migrate now that we’re in power in UP?”