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UP Police arrest Chennai resident over comments on Covid-19 management
Manmohan Mishra has been booked under five sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 505 (public mischief), and the Epidemic Diseases Act, according to the FIR filed in the case. HT has seen a copy of the FIR
The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Chennai resident Manmohan Mishra in connection with a case filed against him for some “objectionable comments” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Until they (Uttar Pradesh Police) informed us, we did not know anything about him (Mishra) and neither are we collecting details because all due procedures have been followed for his arrest and transit in this case,” said a police officer in Chennai, who did not want to be named. “No one has filed a complaint against his arrest and his family has not approached us either. He has made some objectionable comments against the Prime Minister and recently in the context of Covid-19.”
Mishra has been booked under five sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 505 (public mischief), and the Epidemic Diseases Act, according to the First Information Report (FIR) filed in the case. HT has seen a copy of the FIR.
“The police came (last week) saying they needed to ask him some questions at the station and that they would send him back in two hours. We did not imagine that it would escalate like this,” said a relative of Mishra, who did not wish to be named.
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Mishra, 62, is from Uttar Pradesh but has been living with his family in Chennai for over three decades. He has been posting videos in Hindi on YouTube, which are critical of Modi as well as chief minister Yogi Adityanath. In a recent video that led to his arrest, he asked Modi to resign over severe oxygen shortage during the second Covid-19 wave and warned of a similar scenario anticipating the third wave.
The relative cited above said Mishra, who wears saffron clothes and spots a tilak in his videos, is not politically inclined to anyone and he has no influence or backing as some have been saying. “His only intention was to relay his opinions to the public,” the relative said. “He speaks online just like he speaks at home. Sometimes we would interrupt him while recording a video... he has hypertension and would get so angry while raising these issues.”
Mishra’s family said he started with Facebook lives before shifting to YouTube. “All his videos have also been posted by YouTube channel, Loktantra TV with 1.1 million subscribers,” the relative said.
The relative said they tried to convince him to stop posting videos when he began receiving nasty comments and threats. “If everyone keeps quiet minding their own business, what will happen to this country?” the relative quoted Mishra as saying.
His family called Mishra’s arrest abuse of power. “He is just a man who is angry about some of the issues in the country and he wants to speak about it publicly. Is not it his right to question an elected government?” the relative asked.
The Uttar Pradesh Police said Mishra was arrested on Friday last after a complaint was filed against him in Jaunpur. Mishra’s son and son-in-law are in Uttar Pradesh trying to get him out on bail.
