Ghaziabad: 2 arrested for abusing Faizabad voters after BJP loss

In a video, the two arrested suspects were allegedly seen using expletives against voters of Ayodhya where the BJP suffered a major defeat from the SP

The Ghaziabad police on Thursday arrested two people on charges of hate speech after they allegedly publicly abused voters of Faizabad parliament constituency in a viral video, days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the seat to the Samajwadi Party candidate Awdesh Prasad in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The suspects in the video alleged that people ignored religious and nationalist sentiments in favour of caste equations, and police said that the two repeatedly used abusive language throughout the video. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Ghaziabad police identified the arrested suspects as Daksh Chaudhary and Annu Chaudhary, and said Daksh is the same person who allegedly slapped Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar and threw ink at him in May when he campaigned for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Chhaya Sharma in Delhi’s New Usmanpur area.

In the present video, which was widely shared on social media, the two arrested suspects were allegedly seen using expletives against the voters of Ayodhya where the BJP suffered a major defeat at the hands of Samajwadi Party (SP).

The suspects alleged that people ignored religious and nationalist sentiments in favour of caste equations. Police said the two repeatedly used abusive language throughout the video.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video but the police confirmed that the men in video were suspects Daksh and Annu.

The construction of Ram temple at the birthplace of Lord Rama had been one of the top political promises of the BJP for years. However, despite the temple finally taking shape, voters of Faizababd favoured Samajwadi Party candidate Awadhesh Prasad over BJP’s Lallu Singh, who was trounced by a margin of 54,567 votes in the general elections.

“The video shows two suspects, Annu and Daksh, in their car abuses people of Faizabad (Ayodhya), and also hurting their religious sentiments. We took suo motu cognisance and lodged an FIR (on June 6) and arrested the two suspects. Daksh had previously attacked Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar in Delhi,” said Siddharth Gautam, assistant commissioner of police, Shalimar Garden.

In connection with the video, the Ghaziabad police has registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 295a (acts intended to outrage the religious feelings) and 504 (intentional insults) at Tila Morh police station.

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the SP secured 37 of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh while its ally, the Congress, secured six seats. The BJP suffered a setback in the state and could only win 33 seats.

Pinki Chaudhary, president, Hindu Raksha Dal, said that two suspects were related to his organisation.

“I have not viewed the video... The sentiments of the two were correct, but the use of abusive language against voters and people of Ayodhya was not right,” Chaudhary said.