With the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya set for January 22, Uttar Pradesh Police is keeping a close eye on every move on social media.
Upping their cyber game, the social media cell of UP police is keeping a sharp eye on social media for buzzwords that might spark trouble. “Sleuths at the social media cell are keeping a vigil on keywords such as ‘Ram Temple’, ‘Ram Lalla’, ‘Babri Masjid’, ‘Ayodhya’, ‘threat’, ‘terror’ and ‘blast’,” said a police official told Hindustan Times (HT).
Prashant Kumar, Director General (DG) (Law and Order), stated that the police were keeping round-the-clock vigil on social media and electronic channels, and scanning for offensive and objectionable posts that could disrupt law and order.
He added that the state police were also in touch with central agencies in connection with the same.
On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) detained 24-year-old Zibran Makrani from Jhansi for posting provocative and hateful messages on the Ayodhya Ram temple. The ATS later found other offensive posts and screenshots that he shared with others “to provoke them to take revenge for the demolition of the Babri Masjid.”
On the same day, the UP Special Task Force (STF) arrested Tahar Singh, and Om Prakash Mishra, from Vibhuti Khand in Lucknow after they claimed to have threatened to blow up the Ram temple and assassinate UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The accused, who are from Gonda, were also suspected of making similar threats against BJP politician Devendra Tiwari.
In November 2019, a similar cyber patrolling drive was intensified when the Supreme Court (SC) verdict on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title case was decided. As many as 680 posts on social media platforms were found to be objectionable. They included 515 tweets, 125 Facebook posts and 40 posts on other social media platforms. While arrests were made in some cases, in others, the content was removed by the users after a warning.
