FIR against saffron outfit after ‘Road not for Muslims’ graffiti appears on Uttar Pradesh Highway

Lucknow: Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district registered a case against a saffron outfit after hate graffiti appeared on the walls on the Delhi-Dehradun National Highway 72 A stating that the road was not for the Muslims.

According to the police sources, the graffiti in Hindi stating ‘This road is not for the Muslims’ appeared on the Highway. The police were informed on Friday after which it was removed.

A video purportedly showing two women writing on the railing at an elevated portion of the Highway using spray paint has gone viral on social media.

A vehicle having Uttarakhand number plate was also seen in the video. Some people, including women are heard chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’.

Police said that a case was lodged under section 353 (2) of the BNS (creation or circulation of false information, rumors or reports via any means that incite hatred or enmity between different religious, racial, linguistic or regional groups) against unidentified workers of Hindu Raksha Dal.

A senior police official said in Saharanpur that the authenticity of the video was being investigated.

Sources said that patrolling had been intensified in the area and additional security personnel had been deployed as a precautionary measure.

A Ghaziabad based Hindu Raksha Dal leader Bhupendra Chaudhary alias Pinki Bhaiya reportedly confirmed that the graffiti was written by members of his outfit. He said in a reported post on social media that the roads were constructed from the taxes paid by Hindus and that whatever was written was correct.