SP functionary, one other booked for castiest remarks on social media

Varanasi: Samajwadi Party functionary Lautan Ram Nishad and one other person were booked by Adampur and Dashaswamedh police for making casteist remarks on social media. Lautan Ram Nishad, who contested the 2022 assembly election on a Congress ticket from Ghazipur Sadar seat, later joined the SP.
DCP Kashi zone Gaurav Banswal, on Friday said that two FIRs were lodged by police at Dashaswamedh and Adampur police stations under section 196, 299 of BNS, and sections of SC/ST Act and IT Act.A detailed investigation has been started, he added.
During the initial police investigation, it came to light that the SP functionary posted a video on his X handle early on Thursday morning showing some young men being beaten near a riverbank. The venue of the incident was claimed to be the Ganga ghats in Kashi. The video was shared with a scrol reading that if one visits another's temple, they will be beaten and disrobed. It included some casteist comments also stating that individuals were beaten and disrobed for attempting to visit a temple in Varnasi after bathing in the Ganga as Hindus. Similarly, another user named ‘Voice of Humans' also posted the same video with similar comments.
The DCP said that the video was months old and was actually shot at the banks of the Narmada in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh. The video was shared without verification, falsely attributed to Kashi, and was an attempt to spread rumours and disrupt the social atmosphere, said the officials. FIRs were lodged against the SP functionary and the ‘Voice of Humans,' the officials added.
Nishad was in the SP before he made remarks on Lord Ram, after which the party removed him from the post of OBC Cell president. However, before the 2024 LS poll, he returned to the SP.