Gorakhpur, June 10: After three journalists, the Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested another person for allegedly defaming Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media. The accused was arrested from Gorakhpur following a complaint against him on Twitter, the Gorakhpur Police said. He was arrested for posting "objectionable content" against Yogi Adityanath, it added. This is the fourth such arrest in the last three days.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested freelance journalist Prashant Kanojia, Ishika Singh, head of a Noida-based news channel, and Anuj Shukla, one of the editors of the channel, for allegedly making “objectionable comments” and “propagating defamatory content” against Yogi Aditynath. The arrests triggered a debate on freedom of expression with Editor's Guild calling it an "effort to intimidate" the media.

Kanojia was arrested from his Delhi residence on Saturday for allegedly uploading a video on Twitter in which a woman is heard making some claims about Adityanath. Kanojia had commented 'Ishq chupta nahi chupane se yogi ji' with the video. Nation Live channel's Ishika Singh and Anuj Shukla were taken into custody for allegedly propagating “defamatory content” by airing footage of the woman’s claims on their channel.

Prashant Kanojia's controversial tweet:

Kanojia, Singh and Shukla have been remanded in judicial custody. Nation Live's office in Noida was also sealed after it emerged the channel had reportedly not obtained a licence. "It appears that the channel had been telecasting for the past four months on the licence of another channel. The duo have admitted to airing the defamatory content and the fact that their licences were not in order," SHO Devendra Singh said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 10, 2019 09:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).