GHAZIABAD: Police have lodged an FIR against a temple priest for spreading communal hatred while five people of different communities were arrested for creating a ruckus in here, police said on Wednesday.
Five youths were riding a car in an inebriated condition in Sector 23 of the Maduban Bapu Dham police station area on Tuesday night when they ran out of fuel and called a mechanic to bring petrol in a bottle, police said.
After some time, the mechanic turned up there without fuel, saying that the petrol pump staff refused to give him fuel in a bottle, to which the car owner, who was his old acquaintance, had a tiff with him, police said.
The mechanic also called some people of his community and both groups indulged in heated arguments and manhandled each other.
In the meantime, priest Machendra Puri also reached there and used objectionable language for a religious person, police said, adding that a video of the incident surfaced on social media.
Both groups also raised religious slogans, police said.
The priest has been booked under Section 295-A of the IPC, police said, adding that the five others were arrested for creating a ruckus.
Superintendent of Police (City-II) Nipun Agarwal said police force was summoned and deployed in the area.