Here is what Ranjan’s complaint (a copy of which is with Swarajya) says: On 18 April, around 12.15 pm, he received information from a senior official that members of Bajrang Dal were installing saffron flags at shops owned by Hindus near a chowk.

The complaint says the Bajrang Dal members were also asking Hindus to buy fruits, vegetables and groceries only from Hindu-owned shops or shops sporting saffron flags.

The complaint further says that thanks to such acts, there is a possibility that communal harmony may be disturbed and communal tension may be created.

“After investigation, it was also found that some Bajrang Dal members are posting such statements and photographs on Twitter using the ID @rahulprince1432,” concludes the complaint (as translated by Swarajya from Hindi).

The complaint mentions two names of “Bajrang Dal members” indulging in the above-stated acts, namely Kundan Kumar and Dheeraj Kumar.

Station House Officer (SHO) Ranjit Rai of Laheri police station told this correspondent over the phone that Kundan Kumar, Dheeraj Kumar and the person using the Twitter ID have been made accused, along with “four-five unidentified people”.

They have been booked under IPC sections 147, 149, 188, 153A, 295A and Section 66 of the IT Act.

IPC section 147 is for rioting; 149 is for unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object; 188 is for disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant; 153A is for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion; and 295A is for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

Legal voices on social media have called the charges invoked as ‘gross misuse of power’. Advocate Rakesh K Singh said that Section 295A has been wrongly imposed.

He explained his position in a series of posts on Twitter. “FIR is gross abuse. The object of Section 295-A is to punish deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulating its religion or the religious beliefs,” he wrote in one of the posts.

You can read his posts here: