Ayodhya verdict: Six more held for online posts, total arrested 77

Police have taken action against 8,275 social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube The action included either deletion of posts through direct message or even removal of the profiles concerned.

People on Sunday arrested Mohammad Hashim, Shubham Chatuvedi, Prashant Bajpai, Akash Awasthi and Ajeet (all in their 20s and from Rae Bareli). The sixth man was arrested from Banda and identified as Jaikaran Sonkar.

The Rae Bareli men posted their comment on the judgment on Facebook. Police said Hashim was asked to delete his post, but he refused to do, following which he was arrested. No FIR was lodged against the rest four youths as they had taken down their posts. However, they were held under CrPC section 151 (breach of peace), said Maharajganj Circle Officer Vineet Singh.

“All the five accused were produced before a local court of Rae Bareli today (Sunday) which sent them to jail,” Singh said.

Station House Officer, Bachhrawan police station, Pankaj Tiwari, said a complaint was lodged that Hashim had posted several objectionable comments on his Facebook account related to the Ayodhya verdict. The police verified the complaint and contacted him, who belongs to Alinagar locality, and asked him to delete the posts.

“Hashim came to the police station with a lawyer and refused to delete the comments. Later, an FIR was lodged against him, and he was taken into custody,” the SHO said.

A case against him was lodged under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication). The police also invoked the Information Technology Act against him.

A similar matter was reported in the same police station area. The police were informed about four youths having posted objectionable comments on their Facebook accounts.

“The police contacted the four youths and asked them to delete the posts which they did. But, they arrested on charges of breach of peace,” said SHO.

Meanwhile, Kannauj police detained AIMIM district president Ishrat Khan and one Brijesh Gupta from Gurusahaiganj police station area for posting objectionable comments related to the Ayodhya judgment.

“Police have been verifying the comments posted by Khan and Gupta on Facebook. Further action would be initiated on the basis of the findings,” said Circle Officer (City area) Srikant Prajapati.