WhatsApp Group Admin Held for User's 'Derogatory' Remark on UP CM Adityanath

The Bhadohi Police said that the user who posted the remarks against Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Aditnayath is absconding.

Sahabuddin Ansari, the admin of the WhatsApp group. 

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint) 

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday, 5 August, arrested the admin of a WhatsApp group after one of the group's members allegedly posted a "derogatory" remark against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Bhadohi Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rajesh Bharti said that while the admin of the group has been arrested, the person who posted the alleged derogatory remark is absconding.

"In the case, the police have registered a case against the operator of the WhatsApp group and the person who posted it. The operator of the WhatsApp group Sahabuddin Ansari has been arrested by the police while the police is on the lookout for the accused named Muslim Ansari who posted (the remark) in the group," Bharti said.

The accused persons have been booked under Sections 500 (defamation), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The police said that they had taken cognisance of the incident after a screenshot showing alleged indecent remarks against the chief minister went viral on social media on 4 August.