77 arrested in UP for objectionable social media posts

Lucknow: Seventy-seven persons across Uttar Pradesh were arrested after the Supreme Court verdict for trying to vitiate communal harmony on social media.

A statement issued by Lucknow police said that 34 cases had been registered and 77 persons arrested so far.

Action has also been taken against 4,563 posts of the 8,275, which were identified as objectionable. These posts were put on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

UP Director General of Police O.P. Singh earlier said an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been set up for the first time in the state to keep an eye on reports emerging from the media, social media and other sources, both before and after the pronouncement of the verdict in the case.

Meanwhile, the police force also undertook prohibitive measures like clamping section 144 to prevent unlawful assembly and undertaking patrolling in sensitive and busy market areas to send a stern message against elements, who attempted to use the Supreme Court's verdict on Ayodhya case to provoke sentiments of the common people.

The Supreme Court, on Saturday, cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque at another site.

Delivering a unanimous judgement on the Ayodhya case, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi put an end to the more than a century-old dispute that has torn the social fabric of the nation.

The Supreme Court said the mosque should be constructed at a 'prominent site', allotted either by the Centre or the Uttar Pradesh government, and a trust should be formed within three months for the construction of the temple at the site many Hindus believe Lord Ram was born.