In Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district, the police have filed an FIR against the YouTube channel Hindustani Media for reporting that a Muslim man was lynched by a mob.
On Friday, the channel posted a video claiming that Firoz Qureshi, a Muslim man, had been beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of theft in Jalalabad town, Shamli district. The report was based on complaints and allegations from the deceased’s family members.
Hindustani Media, which has over 300,000 subscribers, is run by Sadaf Kamran, a journalist from Bihar. This is the second report filed against journalists and media organizations in connection with their coverage of mob lynching in the BJP-led state.
The FIR was filed at Thana Bhawan police station.
The channel was booked under section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for promoting enmity between groups and under section 353(2) for circulating false information to incite enmity.
The complaint stated that the channel had published a video with incorrect information, alleging mob lynching, which could provoke communal discord.
On Saturday, the UP Police also booked two journalists, Zakir Ali Tyagi and Wasim Akram Tyagi, along with Asif Rana, Saif Allahbadi, and Ahmad Raza Khan, for alleging on social media that Qureshi had been lynched by a mob.
The police action followed the social media outrage over the mob killing of another Muslim man, Firoz Qureshi, also known as Kala Qureshi. Since the election results on June 4, at least nine Muslim men have been lynched, mostly by right-wing Hindu groups. However, the police stated that Feroz’s death was not related to lynching.
The police clarified that the post-mortem report indicated that the cause of death was not assault, and the deceased had entered the accused’s house intoxicated. Despite this, the incident was deliberately posted on social media as mob lynching to spread communal hatred. Legal action will be taken based on the post-mortem report and against those spreading malicious posts.
Meanwhile, in connection with Qureshi’s death, the police have filed a case based on the family’s complaint, invoking charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against unknown persons under section 105 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. (With Agencies Inputs)