Hoardings removed; Meerut SSP orders probe

Hoardings purportedly put up by the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), the organisation founded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, came up across the city declaring that people should chant Mr Adityanath’s name if they wanted to live in Uttar Pradesh.

“Pradesh mein rehnaa hain toh Yogi, Yogi kehna hain (If you want to live in the State chant Yogi, Yogi),” the hoardings said.

The posters with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Adityanath also feature Meerut district’s HYV president Neeraj Sharma Panchali.

Attempts to contact Nagendra Tomar, the HYV chief of western Uttar Pradesh, were unsuccessful.

Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police J Ravinder Gaud ordered a probe into the incident while the district administration removed the hoardings.

Mr. Gaud said the local intelligence unit of Meerut had been asked to investigate who were behind the hoardings and register a case against them.

“We heard about these controversial posters. We are trying to find out who has done this. There are clear instructions from the State government not to tolerate things which have the potential to disturb communal harmony,” Mr. Gaud said.

The hoardings come days after HYV members barged into a house and thrashed a Muslim man and his woman friend on the suspicion of “immoral activity and love jihad.”

The HYV workers video recorded the entire episode, leading to outrage in social media.