UP Police arrests journalist Prashant Kanojia over social media post
Aug 18, 2020
New Delhi [India], Aug 19 : Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested journalist Prashant Kanojia from his Delhi residence over a social media post about Ayodhya's Ram Temple.
Kanojia was arrested after an FIR was registered at Lucknow's Hazratganj police station on Monday.
The FIR states that that Kanojia had tweeted a morphed photo of a post by Hindu Army leader Sushil Tiwari which showed him saying that Ram temple in Ayodhya should not allow Dalits, STs and OBCs entry.
"On August 17, We found that on Twitter and WhatsApp, a Facebook post taken from Sushil Tiwari of Hindu Army was morphed with an intention to defame Sushil Tiwari. One, Prashant Kanojia has written that it is Tiwariji's direction that entry for SC/ST/OBC be banned in the Ram Mandir and everybody should raise their voice for this. This was being circulated as a screenshot of Sushil Tiwari's post," the FIR said.
"It went viral. This kind of objectionable post will disturb communal harmony and may create tension between different communities. It can also hurt religious feelings, which can threaten law and order," the FIR added.
The FIR invokes nine sections of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2008.
Kanojia was arrested in June last year by Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly defaming Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
