After party media cell’s ‘dalal journalists’ tweets, SP leader arrested by UP police

The Uttar Pradesh police yesterday arrested Manish Jagan Agrawal, a Samajwadi Party leader, following a complaint filed by Richa Rajput, head of social media for the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha – the BJP’s youth wing. Agrawal is alleged to be the person behind “offensive” tweets posted by his party’s media cell on Twitter.

In her complaint, Rajput alleged she had been “threatened with rape and subjected to character assassination” and that she “feared for her life”, Indian Express reported. It should be noted that an FIR was also lodged against Rajput on the same day for “using objectionable language” against an SP MP.

Lucknow police commissioner SB Shiradkar told the media that Agrawal was arrested “following investigation from our side for the past 10-12 days”. 

“We are still trying to investigate his exact role in connection with other offensive posts as well,” he said, adding that the police were also investigating Agrawal’s link to the SP media cell’s Twitter handle.

According to a tweet by the Lucknow police commissionerate, Agrawal had been arrested under sections 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 420, 500, 501, 504, 505(2) and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as sections 66, 67, 67a and 67b of the IT Act.

The SP media cell has had FIRs filed against it in the past. In December, Newslaundry had reported on a journalist’s claims that the Twitter handle had “abused” him, calling him “chaatu” and “dalal” because he had posted photographs with Yogi Adityanath’s media advisor. Read the report on Newslaundry.