Ayodhya: 2 held for FB post in Noida, Greater Noida

Two people were arrested in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Sunday for allegedly posting malicious content on social media related to the Supreme Court's verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case, police said.

One of them was arrested from Shahpur village in Noida, while the other was held from Dankaur in Greater Noida, the police said.

"In the first case, the accused had shared a post on Facebook which could have caused communal discord and hence he was arrested and a case filed against him," a police officer said.

"In the second case, the accused was held around 3.45 pm for a post he shared on Facebook earlier this (Sunday) morning. His post could have triggered religious disharmony and he had had twice shared such posts in October," the official said.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 506 (criminal intimidation), according to the police.

The duo has also been booked under provisions of the Information Technology Act and the mobile phones used by them for uploading the controversial posts have also been seized.

The Noida Police had on Saturday taken two people into preventive custody for allegedly spreading rumours related to the apex court's verdict.

In a unanimous verdict, the top court had on Saturday paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.

In one of the most important and anticipated judgements in India's history, a 5-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi put an end to the more than a century-old dispute that has torn the social fabric of the nation.