The police in Uttar Pradesh have arrested a senior Congress leader for allegedly circulating a fake photo of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker disrupting flood relief work in Chennai, reports said.

UP Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Nirmal Khatri was arrested on Friday for circulating a morphed photo on WhatsApp that claims to show an RSS worker fighting with the police and disrupting the flood relief in Chennai.

The image was widely shared on WhatsApp and several other social media networks. RSS workers brought the matter to the attention of the police and told them the picture was taken in 2012.

The RSS then filed a complaint against Khatri, who had shared the image on WhatsApp. Based on the complaint, the Agra police registered case under Section 469 of the IPC (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating using computer resource) against him, according to PTI.

The RSS has said the person seen clashing with the police in the fake photo is Ajit Kumar from Agra, who is a farmer by profession and an RSS worker.

"He is currently working for the RSS in Mathura and has never been to Chennai," RSS leader from Braj, Pradeep Kumar, told Times of India.

Khatri told TOI he did not know the picture was fake and had deleted it after he came to know that it was morphed.