Shahjahanpur

Police here have registered a case against 200 unknown people in connection with the protest that erupted here on Friday following objectionable social media posts against Prophet Muhammad and the Quran.

This came after police arrested a 45-year-old man for his derogatory social media posts against Prophet Muhammad and the Quran.

Soon after the arrest on Friday, several people tried to enter the police station around 9 pm and raised slogans amid the protest that turned violent as they set two two-wheelers on fire.

They did not relent even after the police explained to them that the man behind such posts had been arrested.

Shahjahanpur Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi said that personnel of the force had to resort to baton-charge to disperse the crowd. The protesters then blocked the Lal Imli crossing, and it was cleared after a lot of persuasion, he said.

Dwivedi said a case was registered on Monday against 200 unnamed people who held the protests on Friday on the complaint of Sadar police outpost in-charge Shivam Agarwal.

On Saturday, police arrested a woman for her alleged indecent posts on Facebook about Hindu deities, while a few people were booked for propagating those social media posts.

The SP said the situation in Shahjahanpur was calm, but police force has been deployed at strength across the city as a precautionary measure. Police are continuously conducting flag marches in the market areas, he said.

"We have appealed to the people not to make comments against any caste, religion or anyone on social media. No such posts should be made that may spoil communal harmony. However, our social media monitoring team has made a list of those who have posted or forwarded the derogatory post," he added.

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The police officer added that a team has been formed to identify the protesters by scanning viral videos, clips made by the police and CCTV footage.