FIR against 10 including SP MLC Swami Prasad Maurya for damaging and burning copies of Ramcharitmanas

Lucknow: A case has been lodged against 10 named persons, including Samajwadi Party (SP) national general secretary and MLC Swami Prasad Maurya, and some unidentified persons for allegedly damaging and burning copies of Ramcharitmanas, a police spokesman said here on Monday.

The spokesman said that the FIR was lodged by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Satnam Singh 'Lavi' at PGI police station late on Sunday night. It may be noted that some persons claiming themselves to the members of Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha burnt pages of Ramcharitmanas in Vrindavan colony in the state capital Lucknow.

He said, "The complainant has alleged that on Sunday morning around 9 am Devendra Pratap Yadav, Yashpal Singh Lodhi, Satendra Kushwaha, Mahendra Pratap Yadav, Sujit Yadav, Naresh Singh, SS Yadav, Santosh Verma, Salim and some other unknown people tore and burnt the copies of Ramcharitmanas near the office of the Housing and Development Board in sector 9."

The spokesman said that the complainant has alleged that the accused committed the act in support of derogatory remarks made by Swami Prasad Maurya and in a pre-planned manner.

"The complainant has alleged that the accused not only burnt the copies of Ramcharitmanas, but also trampled them under the feet while raising slogans in support of Swami Prasad Maurya and made indecent remarks against the religious text which led to anger among the people present on the spot," he said.

The spokesman said that the complainant, who has claimed that he was present at the spot, has alleged that when he objected the accused did not stop and even threatened him too. "The complainant has alleged that the accused have deliberately committed such a heinous act to hurt the sentiments of a community, spread communal riots, class hatred, incite violence, spoil the public order and law and order of Lucknow and the state and spoil the atmosphere, which has created a lot of tension in the general public," he said.

The spokesman said that the FIR has been lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including criminal conspiracy and deliberate and malicious acts, intending to outrage religious feelings of a class. (UNI)