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Ayodhya alert: ‘Ram Mandir’, ‘Babri Masjid’ and more: Social media chatter on police’s watch
Stepping up their cyber game, police are keeping a sharp eye on social media for buzzwords that might spark trouble.
With the impending consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Uttar Pradesh Police is leaving no keystroke unwatched.
Stepping up their cyber game, they’re 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.
Also read: Ahead of Ram temple opening, symbolism and subtle messaging from Ayodhya palpable
Director general (DG) (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said the police were keeping round-the-clock vigil on social media and electronic channels, and scanning for offensive and objectionable posts that could cause law-and-order issues. He said the state police were also in touch with central agencies in connection with the same.
On Wednesday, UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) arrested a 24-year-old Zibran Makrani from Jhansi for posting provocative and hate content regarding the Ayodhya Ram temple. The ATS later found several objectionable posts and screenshots shared by him with others “to provoke them to take revenge for the demolition of the Babri mosque”.
On that day, UP Special Task Force (STF) arrested Tahar Singh, 30, and Om Prakash Mishra, 31, from Vibhuti Khand in Lucknow after they claimed that they had issued threats to blow up the Ram Temple and assassinate chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The accused, who hail from Gonda, were also believed to have issued similar threats to BJP leader Devendra Tiwari.
In November 2019, a similar cyber patrolling drive was intensified when the Supreme Court verdict on Ramjanmbhoomi-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 in some cases arrests were made, in others the content was removed by the users after a warning.
