The Ludhiana police late Tuesday arrested Delhi-based YouTuber, digital content creator and self-proclaimed political satirist Rachit Kaushik from Uttar Pradesh. Ludhiana police commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal said Kaushik was arrested after a case was registered against him under the offences of hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion. Delhi-based BJP leader Tajinder Bagga, who was earlier picked up by the Punjab police, took to social media platform X to draw a connection between the arrest and Kaushik’s alleged exposé on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s son. Who is Rachit Kaushik? Kaushik, in his latest post on his Instagram channel “Sab Lok Tantra” claimed that he was a “bold voice of Hindutva, famous journalist, political analyst” who was “picked up under a political conspiracy” by the Punjab Police from UP's Muzaffarnagar after he “presented some facts on his channels regarding Arvind Kejriwal, his family and Punjab government.” With around 24,000 followers, his Instagram channel describes him as a 'Political Satirist'. His supporters are running the hashtag "Justice for Baba", "Rachit Kaushik kidnapped" and "Justice For Sab Lok Tantra Baba" on X since his arrest. Why was he arrested? An FIR against unknown person was registered on the complaint of Alisha Masih, a pastor of a church in Peeru Banda area of Ludhiana. Masih in his complaint said that a video hurting religious sentiments of the Christian community was uploaded on X from a handle named “No conversion”. Masih said he had filed the complaint after seeing online videos and that he never knew who the man was. CP Chahal said a probe found that Rachit Kaushik was running a handle on X, where he would put many such clips instigating one community against the other. “He is also running many such other handles on YouTube and Instagram, where he gives hate speech and tries to instigate communities,” CP Chahal told The Indian Express. The FIR against Kaushik has been registered under sections 295-A, 153-A, 153, 504 of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act at Salem Tabri police station.
