Lucknow, June 8: Prashant Kanojia, an independent journalist, has been reportedly booked by the Uttar Pradesh police for an alleged defamatory post against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Facebook. The case has been registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. A sub-inspector privy to the matter said the scribe has been booked for the "objectionable" nature of his post.
Meanwhile, reports claim that Kanojia has been detained by the UP police from his apartment based in Delhi. According to his wife, the scribe was picked up by two men who claimed to be police officials from Lucknow. Yogi Adityanath Supporter Goes Berserk After Congress Refers to UP CM as Ajay Singh Bisht at Press Meet; Watch Video
“Two men arrived in civil dress. They asked Prashant to come with them. He told me that it was about a tweet that he had posted. He is being taken to Lucknow,” Kanojia's wife Jagisha Arora told LatestLY.
The police, however, has not issued a statement confirming whether Kanojia has been detained.
The Facebook post which landed Kanojia in row is related to a video being circulated on social media in which a woman is seen speaking to reporters outside the CM office. She told reporters that Yogi has been in touch with her via video conferencing over the past year, and that she had arrived in Lucknow to respond to his "marriage proposal".
Notably, the Chief Minister is a "Yogi" who has renounced personal life and materialistic world. Apart from being a top leader of the BJP, he is also the head priest of the revered Gorakhnath Matt.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 08, 2019 05:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).