Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested a YouTuber for allegedly posting objectionable tweets from the Twitter handle of Samajwadi Party's (SP) media cell, officials said today.
SP leaders, however, said the arrested man does not have any link with the party.
On November 23, journalist Manish Pandey registered a complaint at Hazratganj Police Station against an unidentified person running the SP media cell Twitter handle (@MediaCellSP), police said.
The complainant alleged that the SP media cell posted a tweet about the Gorakhnath mutt and he replied that it should refrain from making such posts as the mutt is the centre of devotion for crores of people, they said.
After this, the complainant said, "insulting and humiliating" tweets were posted from the Twitter handle against him.
In a tweet on November 20, the SP media cell had alleged that people from the mutt were involved in illegal mining. The tweet, however, did not name any mutt.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Hazratganj, Arvind Kumar Verma, told PTI that prima facie, Anil Yadav posted the tweets from the Twitter handle of the SP media cell.
A detailed probe into the matter is underway, he added.
Yadav, who runs a YouTube channel, was arrested on Friday, police said.
An FIR was registered under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (intentional insult), 505 (publishing or circulating any statement, rumour or report with intent to incite) and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the IT Act, the police said.
When contacted, SP leaders said Yadav was not connected with the party in any way.
In a series of tweets yesterday, the SP media cell said, "Journalist Anil Yadav was exposing atrocities and injustice being faced by people under the BJP government through his YouTube channel." Angered by this, the BJP government got him arrested "unconstitutionally", it alleged.
"Anil Yadav should be immediately released and sent back home with honour," the SP media cell said.
The BJP government is "strangulating democracy and dishonouring the Constitution", it said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
"Rs 50 Crore Offered": Karnataka Chief Minister Alleges BJP Lured Congress MLAs
Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Former Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki In Arson Case Display Names, Phone Numbers: Vendors At Delhi's Najafgarh Vegetable Market Told Supreme Court's Demolition Verdict Will Help Curb Organised Crime: UP Devendra Fadnavis vs Ajit Pawar Emerges Days Ahead Of Maharashtra Polls Wary Of NASA Satellites, How Farmers Time Crop-Burning, Scientist Explains Retired Delhi Engineer Cheated Of Rs 10 Crore Via Digital Arrest In India's Largest Bank Loan This Year, SBI Seeks $1.25 Billion As The Onion Buys Infowars, Internet Reacts With "Cheers To Karma" Jibe "My Mistake To Put Up Wife Against Supriya Sule": Ajit Pawar To NDTV Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.