Four people arrested in 2 days in Uttar Pradesh for defaming Yogi Adityanath

With the arrest of another person in Gorakhpur, police have now four people in custody for allegedly defaming Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media.

In a tweet on Sunday, Gorakhpur police said it received the complaint against the accused on the social networking site, following which it arrested a person on the direction of Senior Superintendent of Police.

The person was held for "allegedly posting objectionable to tarnish the image of Hon'ble Chief minister" Yogi Adityanath, Gorakhpur police tweeted. The police have also seized a mobile.

?????? ????? ??????? ??????? ?? ???????? ??? #gorakhpurpolice ?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ????? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ???? ???? ????????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ??? 1 ???????? ???????? ???? ?? ???????? ?????? ?????? @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/Koa7a2L25J GORAKHPUR POLICE (@gorakhpurpolice) June 9, 2019

Earlier, a Noida-based journalist Prashant Kanaujia, the head, and editor of a private TV news channel were arrested over "objectionable content" against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

Prashant Kanaujia had shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to media outside the CM's office claiming she had sent a marriage proposal to Yogi Adityanath. The news channel had broadcast a video during a debate on the same issue.

The arrest has triggered a massive debate on social media on freedom of expression while a top editors' body has called it an "effort to intimidate" the media.

On the same day Kanaujia was arrested, another TV channel head Ishika Singh and its editor Anuj Shukla were also arrested in Noida.

During a debate on Singh's channel on June 6, the woman whose video was shared by Kanaujia earlier, allegedly made defamatory statements against the Uttar Pradesh CM.