FIR Lodged Against Lucknow Man After Contentious Post on Palghar Lynching Goes Viral on Social Media

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police lodged an FIR on Wednesday after an inflammatory post about the recent Palghar lynching incident was published on social media.

Suraj Tiwari was found responsible for posting a contentious post about the incident in which three men were lynched by an armed mob near Gadchinchale village in Maharashtra's Palghar district on April 16. Tiwari has been absconding after the post went viral on social media.

SHO Ashiyana Sanjay Rai said, “An FIR has been lodged against the accused under appropriate sections of the IPC and IT Act. The hunt for the accused is on and soon he will be arrested. The mobile number of the accused is also being traced to ascertain the whereabouts of the accused.”

He was booked under sections 153A, 295A, 505(2) of the IPC and section 66 of the IT Act at the Ashiyana Police Station in Lucknow.

Reports suggest that 508 FIRs have been registered by the UP Police regarding objectionable posts on social media. The state police department’s social media cell under the supervision of the Director General of Police is keeping a strict vigil on social media platforms. Out of all the new FIRs, 136 cases have been registered for false information and rumour-mongering while 276 cases have been registered against people posting posts which could affect communal harmony.

The social media cell has received 3,719 tweets out of which 225 were related to availing medicine and health-related issues amid the lockdown. The department said, 390 tweets addressed to them were related to requests for food and the remaining were regarding lockdown implementation. All the tweets were addressed, and help was sent to these people via local police, officials said.