Man arrested by UP ATS for provocative posts on Ayodhya Ram temple

Lucknow: A 24-year-old man from Jhansi was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) late on Wednesday for making "provocative social media posts" on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The posts allegedly promoted animosity between religious groups and called for revenge for the demolition of the Babri mosque.

Director General (DG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, said that the accused was identified as Zibran Makrani, a resident of Mukaryana of Jhansi district.

He said that the accused had done the course of Hafiz from a Jhansi madrasa.

The DG said that a post by the accused was noticed by the ATS while scanning social media platforms during intensified cyber patrolling ahead of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla at Ram temple on January 22.

He said that the ATS later recovered several objectionable posts and screenshots shared by him with other people, instigating them to take revenge for the demolition of Babri mosque.

The officer further said that an FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153-A for promoting enmity between two groups on the grounds of religion and 505(2) for statements promoting hatred and enmity between two classes has been registered against him at ATS police station in Lucknow in the matter.

The ATS is keeping a round-the-clock vigil on posts made on social media platforms and other electronic channels.

He said several posts on social media platforms were found objectionable during the round-the-clock cyber patrolling and were removed as well as the users’ accounts were blocked, while in some cases, users removed the posts after being warned.

With inputs from IANS