Updated: October 6, 2020 8:22:54 am
Tight security in victim’s village of Hathras, Monday. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)
Faced with criticism for its handling of the murder and alleged gangrape of the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, the Uttar Pradesh police have filed 21 cases across the state against, among other charges, attempts to “incite caste and community tension and smear the state government ”using social media platforms and public gatherings. The charges include sedition, criminal conspiracy and promotion of enmity.
This comes a day after the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, denounced “conspiracies” against his government by “those who want to incite castes and communal unrest”. He reiterated this on Monday, saying that “some anarchists who cannot bear to see development in the state are conspiring to promote communal frenzy and violence along caste lines.”
FIRs, filed in the last 24 hours, include six at Hathras: four at Chandpa Police Station and one at Sasni and Hathras Gate Police Stations.
“We have registered 21 FIRs in the state, of which six are in the Hathras district. Hathras’ six main FIRs have unidentified persons charged. The rest of the FIRs in other districts have singled out people as defendants. Among the FIRs in Hathras, one is against Samajwadi Party workers and Rashtriya Lok Dal for a fight with the police while trying to enter the village. Another FIR has been registered against some members of Congress for circulating a video. An FIR in the Sasni police station is against members of the Bhim army for blocking the road. There was an FIR at the Hathras Gate Police Station where a former member of the judiciary had organized a public meeting, ”said Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar.
A statement issued by the state DGP office said that FIRs had been brought against individuals and organizations for sending false information to incite individuals, violating Section 144 CrPC and Covid-19 guidelines, among other charges.
“Despite the fact that the local administration, taking into account the Covid-19 protocol, had given permission to five people from each of the political parties to visit, members and leaders of different political organizations gathered in large numbers and started violence , while the system was broken by the police. The police had to use less force to control the situation, ”the statement said.
The first FIR, at the Chandpa Police Station in Hathras, has been filed against unidentified persons under Sections 109 (complicity if the act is committed accordingly and where its punishment is not expressly provided), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 124A (sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups for reasons of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and performing acts harmful to the maintenance of harmony) and four of its subsections, 153 B (imputations, assertions harmful to national integration), 420 (fraud and dishonestly inducing the delivery of goods) of the CPI.
Other sections invoked are to fabricate evidence with the intent to obtain a conviction for a crime punishable by life imprisonment or imprisonment, threaten a person with false evidence, falsify for the purpose of damaging reputation, and print or record material known as defamatory. Sections of the Information Technology Act have also been invoked.
Police sources said the FIR sedition filed in Hathras, based on a police complaint, is exploring a alleged international conspiracy to instigate caste-based riots and smear the state government.
Sources said investigating agencies found a website called justiceforhathrasvictim.carrd.co that was giving information on how to safely protest and avoid the police. Sources claimed that he had copied information from protests taking place in the US, in particular the “Black Lives Matter” protests. Dos and don’ts, the sources said, included steps on how to stay safe during riots and in situations involving tear gas and arrests.
“The lead FIR presented at the Chandpa Police Station will investigate the general conspiracy regarding the incident. There is a lot of evidence, for example, detailed call logs from those trying to offer money to the woman’s parents. All these things will be analyzed and appropriate action will be taken, ”said Police Superintendent Hathras Vineet Jaiswal.
The statement issued by the State DGP office said that the FIR came forward in relation to some fringe elements who tried to incite the victim’s family, pressure them and offer them Rs 50 lakh to make false statements, and objectionable audios circulated in the social networks.
The second and third FIRs at the police station, against members of SP and RLD respectively, are under riot sections, willfully causing harm to a public servant and assault to deter a public servant.
The fourth FIR at the Chandpa police station was brought against a member of the Congress party for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups by circulating an inciting video.
The FIR at the Sasni police station is against members of the army of Bhim for gathering a crowd of 400-500 in violation of Section 144 CrPC. At Hathras Gate Police Station, an FIR was filed for allegedly disobeying Covid rules against former BJP MLA Rajveer Pahalwan.
“We have been informed that there are several people online who have been posting content to specifically create caste-based tensions. These have been sent to Cyber Cell and the FIRs have been archived, ”said SP Jaiswal.
According to Hathras police, Cyber Cell is taking note of those who shared fake photos of a body, claiming it was from the victim. The police were also informed that there were video clips that attributed erroneous statements to the prime minister. The complaints also include copies of medical reports that were not considered authentic, police said.
At least 14 more FIRs have been recorded on allegedly objectionable posts on social media. Five people have been arrested in connection with these FIRs, police said.
In Lucknow, for example, police said that an FIR was registered at Hazratganj Police Station against former Congressional Councilor Shailendra Tiwari for allegedly putting up incitement posters. She has been arrested, police said.
An FIR has been filed at the Rampur Police Station in Saharanpur against two individuals, identified as Abhishek Shekhawat and Thakur Satyam Chauhan, for allegedly posting objectionable posts on social media.
Ayodhya DIG Deepak Kumar said that an FIR was registered at Khandasa Police Station against a Gayadeen Chaudhary for Facebook posts. He has also been arrested.
In Prayagraj, authorities said, three separate FIRs have been registered at Naini, Karnailganj and Utraon police stations. Two of the three accused have been arrested.
In Bijnor, one Ajeem Chaudhary was arrested on an allegedly objectionable charge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. District police said the FIR was registered in a BJP leader’s complaint and that the defendant has been arrested.
An FIR has also been registered in Mathura against members of the ‘Campus Front of India’ under section 151 of the CrPC. Under this section, “a police officer who knows a design to commit any recognizable crime can arrest, without a magistrate’s order and without a warrant, the person who designs it.” Mohammad Shamoon, Director (Public Relations) from PFI, the parent body of Campus Front of India, declined to comment on the matter.
– With input from Amil Bhatnagar
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