JOIN USJournalist, 2 others booked for FB offensive post against Ram Temple Trust Secy
The Uttar Pradesh Police booked a journalist and two others invoking 15 sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for creating an "objectionable and indecent" Facebook post against Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust’s general secretary Champat Rai, police said on Sunday.
The alleged post accused Rai of grabbing lands belonging to a college and cow shelter in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnore district.
According to the police sources, an FIR was lodged at Nagina Police station in the district against Vineet Narain, a journalist, and two others for allegedly sharing a Facebook post in which allegations of land grab had been made against Rai and his brothers.
The trio, which included Alka Lahoti, who had alleged that Rai had helped his brothers grab her land, were charged with conspiracy and hurting the sentiments of crores of Hindus.
Rai's brother Sanjay Bansal, who had lodged the complaint, also alleged that he had called Narain to apprise him about the true facts but one Rajnish, who had picked up the phone, threatened to kill him (Bansal).
District police officials said that the allegations against Rai and his brothers were 'false'.
Rai was already facing charges of irregularities in the purchase of a piece of land worth Rs 2 crore for a whopping Rs 18.5 crore for Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Tej Narayan Pandey had claimed that the price of the land in question, which was at Bagh Bijaisi area in Ayodhya town, shot up from Rs 2 crore to Rs 18.5 crore within a span of ten minutes.
The two leaders demanded a CBI probe into the matter. ''It is a very serious matter... it must be thoroughly investigated,'' Pandey said.
Rai, however, rejected the allegations and said that the land was purchased below the market value.
The Trust has been on a land buying spree ever since it was entrusted with the task of constructing the Ram Temple. The central government had allotted 70 acres of land for the Temple. The Trust later decided to expand the area of the Temple and it had purchased several temples adjacent to the Ram Janambhoomi.