GHAZIABAD: A Samajwadi Party functionary here has been booked for allegedly promoting enmity and breach of peace by circulating a "communal" video of an elderly Muslim man being attacked by some young people earlier this month, officials said.
They said that the FIR against Ummaid Pehelwan Idrisi was lodged at the Loni Border police station Wednesday evening.
Filed on the complaint of a local policeman, the FIR states that Idrisi had "unnecessarily" made the video -- in which Abdul Shamad Saifi narrates his ordeal - with an intention to "create social disharmony" and shared it through his Facebook account.
"He shared on his social media account the video which had religious context to it without verifying the truth of the matter. It gave the incident a communal colour and was an attempt at disrupting social harmony," the FIR stated.
The FIR has been lodged under sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups on ground of religion, class etc), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (public mischief).
Idrisi has also been booked under provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, according to the FIR. So far five accused -- Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar, Adil, Intezaar and Saddam alias Bauna -- have been arrested in connection with the attack on Saifi, Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja said on Wednesday.
The Ghaziabad police maintained that the incident took place because the accused were unhappy over the 'tabeez' (amulets) sold to them by Saifi, and ruled out any communal angle.