New Delhi: The Delhi Police have registered more than 100 FIRs and arrested at least six people for allegedly putting up objectionable posters — including ones seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — in the national capital.
The police also said they intercepted a van when it was leaving the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office near IP Estate, and seized posters from it. Those arrested so far include an owner of a printing press and a man who was delivering posters to the AAP office, according to the police.
Among the posters, found pasted on walls and poles in several areas of the capital, were ones that read ‘Modi hatao, desh bachao (remove Modi, save the country)’. The AAP, meanwhile, tweeted an image with the same text while criticising the police action.
मोदी सरकार की तानाशाही चरम पर है‼️
इस Poster में ऐसा क्या आपत्तिजनक है जो इसे लगाने पर मोदी जी ने 100 F.I.R. कर दी?
PM Modi, आपको शायद पता नहीं पर भारत एक लोकतांत्रिक देश है।
एक पोस्टर से इतना डर! क्यों? pic.twitter.com/RLseE9Djfq
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 22, 2023
In its tweet, the party said, “The dictatorship of the Modi government is at its peak. What is so objectionable in this poster that Modi ji has filed 100 FIRs over it? PM Modi, you probably do not know but India is a democratic country. So scared of one poster! Why?”
Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dependra Pathak told ThePrint, “The maximum number of posters are in the Northern Zone — around 65. The other zone has approximately 45.”
“Almost two-thirds of these posters are generic; that is, they are general political posters. The remaining ones are of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This drive has been conducted keeping in mind the G20 summit,” he added.
According to the police, most of these posters don’t indicate the names of the printers and shops that printed them. The FIRs have been lodged under sections of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, and the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
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