The Uttar Pradesh police have booked journalist Vineet Narain and two others for allegations made in a Facebook post regarding the land grabbing case against Ram temple trust secretary and VHP leader Champat Rai, NDTV reported.

The police listed 18 charges against them for “conspiring” to make false allegations against Rai, “hurting the sentiments of crores of Hindus across the country”, “cheating”, and “promoting enmity on the grounds of religion.” The charges include 15 sections of the IPC and three under the IT act.

The FIR was filed based on a complaint by Rai’s brother Sanjay Bansal.

In a Facebook post three days ago, Narain had accused Rai of helping his brothers grab 20,000 square metres of land in a cow shelter owned by an NRI.

Bansal, in his complaint, said that he called Narain to “clear the facts of the case,” but a man calling himself Rajnish picked up the phone and threatened to kill him.

Soon after the FIR was filed, Bijnor’s police chief put up a video supporting Bansal’s version and calling the accusations against Rai and his relatives prima facie “baseless.” However, he added that the matter was still being investigated.