A freelance journalist was booked on Saturday by the Uttar Pradesh police on charges of trying to malign the image of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by allegedly posting an “objectionable comment” on Twitter.
The family of the journalist, Prashant Kanojia, alleged that he was picked up by policemen in plainclothes from Delhi and brought to Lucknow where he was being questioned. An FIR has been lodged at the Hazratganj police station.
The Hazratganj police said in a statement that Mr. Kanojia was arrested after being questioned.
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‘Admitted to crime’
During questioning, he had admitted to his crime, the police said, adding that they had evidence against him under Sections 500 and 505 of the IPC and Section 66 of the IT Act. His whereabouts are not known.
Mr. Kanojia's location is also not known.
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As per the FIR, he is charged with trying to malign Mr. Adityanath's image through an objectionable post but it did not specify the details of the post.
One of the last few posts shared by Mr. Kanojia on social media was a video of a woman who was speaking to media claiming that she had sent a marriage proposal to the Chief Minister. Mr. Kanojia had mocked Mr Adityanath over the video and remarked in Hindi: “Ishq chupta nahi chupane se Yogi ji (love cannot be hidden).”
As per his official Twitter handle, Mr. Kanojia is an alumnus of IIMC and Mumbai University and has worked with a couple of news organizations.