Man booked for objectionable post on COVID-19

The Prayagraj police, on Sunday, booked a man for allegedly hurting the sentiments of a minority community with an objectionable post on the social media regarding coronavirus outbreak.

According to reports, the accused Patel Saurabh Verma was booked under sections 153(A)(promoting enmity between different groups), 295(A) (malicious acts intended to outrage religious feeling of any class insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 188 (violating orders) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

SSP Prayagraj Satyarth Anirudh Pankaj said, "The accused had uploaded an objectionable post related the COVID-19 outbreak on his Facebook account. Other users had complained against the man and demanded strict action against him."

In another case, a man was arrested for allegedly uploading objectionable comments against Hindu deities on his fake social media account.

The accused was identified as Mohammad Shahid.

Till now, around a dozen cases have been lodged with different police stations of the city wherein social networking site users have allegedly uploading objectionable articles/photos or comments, designed to hurt the religious sentiments of other communities.

A five-member team of police's social media cell is keeping an eye on various platforms. Police have also issued a strict warning to users trying to disturb peace.