Patanjali MD urges sternest punishment for impersonators after Noida youth's arrest

A day after the Noida police nabbed a youth for impersonating the Managing Director of Patanjali Ayurved Limited, Acharya Balkrishna on Facebook, the latter demanded the sternest punishment for the accused.

"People such as this who indulge in such malicious activities should receive harsh punishment. Even the government should look into the matter so that such incidents don?t take place in the future," he told reporters here.

Balkrishna also thanked the Noida police for taking prompt action against the accused.

Justice #law@yogrishiramdev@bst_official@Ach_Balkrishna@rajnathsingh@rsprasad@myogiadityanath@noidapolice
Youth held for impersonating Patanjali Chief on Facebook https://t.co/oZrsW17kkZ

— Tijarawala SK (@tijarawala) August 12, 2018

"There have been some impersonators who have been indulging in indecent conversations online with my female followers in an attempt to tarnish his image and that of the company's," he added.

Soon after the youth was arrested by the Noida police, Patanjali spokesperson SK Tijarawala claimed that a deliberate effort was being made to defame religious leaders, and called for stern action against the accused.

"What has happened is against the culture, religion, and values of Indian society, and an attempt to defame religious leaders by spreading false information about them. Accused in such cases should be given the same punishment as that given to those guilty of rape," he tweeted in Hindi.

Tijarawala had earlier appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce a stern law to protect social media from becoming a weapon of sabotage. This came after a morphed image of Yoga Guru Ramdev was posted in a WhatsApp group on International Yoga Day.