The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a 35-year-old businessman in Bhadohi after an alleged 'derogatory' comment against the Chief Minister posted on a WhatsApp group that he administered surfaced on social media.
Kotwali Police Station SHO Ajay Kumar Seth on Saturday said a comment against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had gone viral on social media on August 4.
The man arrested, identified as Sahabuddin Ansari, "remained silent instead of deleting it (the comment) and removing Muslim Ansari (the WhatsApp group member who posted the comment) from the group," Seth told Indian Express, adding that "however, several members in the group raised an objection."
Muslim Ansari is still at large and efforts are underway to nab him, Seth added. He told IE that during a raid at his house, his kin claimed that he was in Nepal where he runs a business and had not been home for the last three months.
The cop said that police had received the complaint in this regard on August 4 through X (earlier, Twitter) and that a screenshot of the derogatory comment has also been obtained. Police also told IE that the comment was found to have been shared in other WhatsApp groups, too.
On the basis of the complaint, a case was registered against Sahabuddin Ansari and Muslim Ansari under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC): 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act and Information Technology Act has also been invoked against the two.
The name of the WhatsApp group is 'Nagar Palika Parishad Bhadohi', and consists of almost all corporators of the Nagar Palika Parishad of Bhadohi, and the public, and its purpose was to address the problems faced by the common people, police told PTI.
This is not an official WhatsApp group of corporators, police added.
(With inputs from PTI)