New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh police arrested a 19-year-old boy on Monday, June 13, for “objectionable remarks” against Chief Minister Adityanath on social media.
Accused Akram Ali a.k.a. Gulbahar, a resident of Tetaria village which is within jurisdiction of the Khajni police station, is a painter, PTI has reported.
Police have claimed that he uploaded an “objectionable post against Adityanath” as his WhatsApp status at around 11 pm on Sunday and that it went viral.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, Ali was booked under sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes), 469 (forgery for harming reputation) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code and also the Information Technology Act, Khajni police station in-charge, Iqrar Ahmad said.
In May this year, the Juvenile Justice Board in Uttar Pradesh ordered a 15-year-old boy to do 15 days of community service at a cow shelter, and then clean a public space for another 15 days after finding him guilty of sharing an “objectionable” post about Adityanath.
In March, a 24-year-old man was arrested in Gautam Buddh Nagar for allegedly posting objectionable pictures of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and former CM Mayawati on social media.
In May 2020, a case of sedition was registered against an Allahabad resident for allegedly making ‘objectionable remarks’ on Facebook about Adityanath.
The FIR in the case said, “Rajesh Kumar Shukla, a resident of Allahabad, had said in his Facebook post ‘I do not understand why Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not hire Uttar Pradesh Transport Corporation buses for migrant labourers?’
“On this post, a resident of Allahabad, Anoop Singh, made objectionable remarks against Yogi Adityanath. He said, “Yogi kutta hai is liye (because Yogi is a dog).”
This article was first published on The Wire.