Lucknow: 8 arrested for burning pages of Ramcharitmanas after video goes viral

Lucknow: A shocking video has emerged from UP's Lucknow which shows a group of men tearing pages of Ramcharitmanas and then burning them in broad daylight. The incident took place in the Vrindavan Yojna area of the city on Sunday.

In the video surfaced on Twitter, a group of men can be seen tearing pages of Ramcharitmanas. They were later seen burning those as a protest.

FIR lodged against eight people

According to reports, at least eight people have been booked in this case. An FIR has been lodged at the PGI police station in Lucknow. Meanwhile, Station House Officer (SHO) Rajesh Rana said that the FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint received from a BJP member named Satnam Singh Lavi.

"Unsavoury comments against Ramcharitmanas and burning of its pages in public may create a rift in society and lead to communal tension. The accused spoke against the holy book on social media and thus hurt the sentiments of Hindus," he told IANS.

Accused booked under relevant sections of IPC

SHO Rana said that the accused named by Satnam Singh in his FIR are Yashpal Singh Lodhi, Devendra Yadav, Mahendra Pratap Yadav, Naresh Singh, SS Yadav, Sujit, Santosh Verma and Salim.

According to the SHO, they all have been booked under sections 153-A (promoting enmity), 295 A (outrage religious feelings), 505 (to incite outrage) and 298 (hurt religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66 of the IT Act.

What stoked the Ramcharitmanas row

On Jan 22, former minister and SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya had termed Ramcharitmanas as orthodox literature and demanded ban on it or deletion of controversial remarks from it. He had stated that backwards and Dalits were abused in Ramcharit Manas should be ratified.

An FIR was lodged against Maurya on last Tuesday in Hazratganj police station of Lucknow under section 295 A, 298, 504, 505 (2) and 153A of Indian Penal Code (IPC).