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The Uttar Pradesh Police booked four persons and detained a brother of one of them after posters appeared in some areas of Ghaziabad calling upon people to stop buying products from Muslim traders, a police officer said on Tuesday.
After the posters appeared on Sunday, two cases were registered at the Nand Gram police station against four persons -- three named and one unnamed.
The named accused are Nitin Chauhan, Shekhar Pandit and Brahmanand, a priest. The police also detained Sagar Chauhan, the brother of Nitin Chauhan. The posters have since been removed, Deputy Commissioner of Police (City Zone) Nipun Agarwal said.
According to the police, the cases were registered under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race), 295 (damage or defilement of a place of worship or an object held sacred with intent to insult religion) and 298 (words with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings).
DCP Agarwal said a probe is underway on a few points such as why these posters were put up, where were these printed, who paid for it and who is the mastermind behind it.
On Monday, leaders and workers of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal staged a protest outside the Nand Gram police station demanding the release of Sagar Chauhan. The protesters also recited 'Hanuman Chalisa'.
The police said Sagar Chauhan was later released as he was detained only for interrogation. VHP district president Alok Garg said the posters were put up by a 'fake' Hindu outfit named 'Hindu Samaj Sangathan' and that the VHP or the Bajrang Dal had nothing to do with it.
Meanwhile, Muslim Mahasabha president Imran Khan said they would hold programmes to enhance Hindu-Muslim brotherhood in the entire country. He said such posters are an attempt to flare up communal riots by spreading hatred.
He said the communities are interdependent and one cannot survive without the other.