Kanpur: Man held for hate posts on FB; Sec 144 imposed ahead of Friday prayers

The police in Kanpur on Thursday arrested a man for posting 'inflammatory and objectionable posts' on social media related to Kanpur violence, taking the total number of those arrested in connection with the incident to 55, a senior officer said.

It has also been decided to make heavy deployment of forces in some pockets of Kanpur ahead of Friday prayers, police said.

The arrested person has been identified as Gaurav Rajput. He was arrested from Kakadev locality, the officer said.

Deputy commissioner of police (west) BBGTS Murthy said that he had received information that Rajput had been posting inflammatory posts targeting the Muslim community on his Facebook account and had been sharing them with others.

Rajput was apprehended by Kakadev Police and was produced before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate-VIII, which sent him on a one-day judicial remand, the DCP said.

Violence had erupted in parts of Kanpur after last week's Friday prayers as members from Hindu and Muslim communities indulged in brick-batting and hurling of bombs during an attempt to shut shops. The shutdown was called for by some Muslim community leaders in protest against comments on Prophet Mohammad made by now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma during a TV debate.

Meanwhile, taking note of several complaints being made about the arrests of innocent people and wrongly implicating them in connection with the violence, Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena has formed a four-member committee headed by Additional CP (law and order) Anand Prakash Tiwari.

Two deputy CPs (east and west), Pramod Kumar and BBGTS Murthy, and Assistant CP (Anwarganj) Akmal Khan, will be its members and will assist Tiwari.

The committee has been tasked to investigate the complaints and inquire into the allegations and act against them accordingly.

Some new videos of the Friday violence have surfaced on social media in which the rioters can be seen throwing petrol bombs and stones, said an official associated with the SIT probing the case.

The police have also been alerted about appearing of posters in neighbouring Unnao appealing to shopkeepers to keep their shops closed on Friday, the officer said. They have been asked to maintain law and order, he added.

Prima facie it appears to be the handiwork of 'some mischievous elements,' he said.

It has been decided to make heavy deployment of police force including Provincial Armed Constabulary, the Rapid Action Force, and civil police in some pockets here in view of Friday prayers, said the additional CP, Law and order, Anand Prakash Tiwari.

The deployment will remain till normalcy completely returns, he said.

Some sources in police have said that the alleged key conspirator in the Friday incident, Zafar Hayat Hashmi, who was arrested from Hazratganj, Lucknow on Saturday, had received funds from abroad about three years ago.

An account was opened in a private bank in Babupurwa area in which an amount of Rs 3.54 crore was deposited in 2019, they said. But, at present, only Rs 11 lakh is left in his accounts that raised suspicion, the sources said.

Senior police officers refused to comment on this.