Police justifies arresting class 11 student for attributing 'objectionable' Facebook post to UP minister Azam Khan

A class 11 student from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh was arrested and sent to prison by Rampur police following a complaint filed by Samajwadi leader Azam Khan's aide Fasahat Ali Khan, say reports.

Fasahat Ali claims that the boy had put up a post offending a particular community and attributed it to Azam Khan. Fashat Ali  said “the boy made controversial allegations, It is conspiracy to make Hindu and Muslim to fight with each other.”

Reports say that the police flouted rules while arresting the boy. The student was first picked up on Monday evening and kept in a police lock-up at Ganj Kotwali police station. He was produced before the magistrate of Tuesday where the court ordered him to be sent to judicial remand for 14 days, the report added. The age of the boy is yet to be confirmed.

However Rampur police have said that the boy confessed to posting the material on Facebook and also has told them that he is 19 years old, according to a news channel. Rampur SP Sadhna Goswami said, "During questioning, he told us that he did not understand the real meaning of what he was posting."

The report also says the parents are ready to apologise to Azam Khan in return for the boy's release.

The student has been booked under the controversial Section 66A (Information Technology Act) and as well as sections relating to disrupting public peace and communal harmony.

The report quotes the student's family saying that he only shared the 'objectionable' post and did not upload it. They added that the police told them that the boy will be released only after being presented before the minister in Rampur.

Earlier, Fasahat Ali Khan, the self-styled 'media-in-charge' of Azam Khan,  has reportedly filed a complaint against Varanasi tourism officer Ravinder Kumar Mishra for uploading "objectionable pictures" on social media sites of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Khan. He too was booked under similar charges

The report also says, Rampur police had arrested Dalit activist Kanwal Bharti for a Facebook post under Section 66 A.