An official from the Samajwadi party has been accused of allegedly promoting hostility and the breach of the peace by circulating a “community” video of an elderly Muslim claiming to be attacked by young men earlier this month, said officials.
The FIR against Ummed Pahalwan Idrisi was filed Wednesday evening at the Loni border police station, they said.
Filed on a complaint from a local police officer, the FIR says that Mr Idrisi “unnecessarily” made the video – in which Abdul Shamad Saifi recounts his ordeal – with the intention of “creating social discord” and shared it via his Facebook account.
“He shared on his social media account the video which had a religious background without verifying the veracity of the matter. It gave the incident a common color and was an attempt to disrupt social harmony,” said the FIR.
The FIR was filed under Articles 153A (promotion of enmity between groups on the grounds of religion, class, etc.), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke a violation of public order).
Mr Idrisi has also been charged under the provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, according to the FIR.
So far, five defendants Kalloo Gurjar, Parvesh Gurjar, Adil, Intezaar and Saddam alias Bauna – have been arrested in connection with the attack on Mr Saifi, Police Commissioner (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja said on Wednesday.
Ghaziabad police claimed the incident took place because the defendants were unhappy with the “tabeez” sold to them by Mr Saifi, and ruled out any community angle
