Amit Jani, president of UP Navnirman Sena, was arrested late on Saturday night in Meerut. Police teams were on the lookout for him after the organisation displayed about 8-10 controversial hoardings in the city asking Kashmiris to leave the state.
SSP J Ravindra Gaur said that Jani was caught while he was trying to leave town. He will be presented in court on Sunday to seek remand.
A complaint accusing Jani of spreading hatred was lodged at Partapur police station on Thursday night. Soon after, Jani disappeared and a decision was taken to send out teams to locate and arrest him.
Earlier, while speaking to HT, Sena president Jani had claimed that his organisation would not tolerate attacks on army jawans by stone pelters in the militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir.