An 18-year-old boy was arrested on Friday for allegedly forwarding an objectionable message about Prophet Mohammad on WhatsApp in Varanasi. Anuj Kumar Gupta, who runs a utensils’ shop in Badi Bazar area, was arrested a day after authorities issued directives for administrators and members of groups on social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. Jai Shayam Shukla of Lohta police station said that a complaint against Gupta was received on Friday night that he had forwarded the message. “The message was checked and a case was registered against Gupta under IPC section 295A (outraging religious feelings).’’ He said that Gupta was produced before a magistrate and sent to jail. Shukla added that Gupta told them that he had received the message from Deepak Mishra, who is probably a Lucknow-resident. He said that chain of the message was being tracked to find out the number from where that message was generated first. Shukla added that Mishra’s number will be checked and action taken against him too.
