Five youth activists of the Samajwadi Party were arrested here on Wednesday for allegedly trying to instigate violence and disrupt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Kanpur on December 28.
The SP has expelled all the five workers, who are sitting and former office bearers of its youth brigade, from the party.
The BJP, meanwhile, launched a scathing attack on the SP, saying such incidents are aimed at creating fear and communal divide among people ahead of assembly polls.
In Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Modi always considers the country's development first, and in this regard he inaugurated the metro project and addressed a rally in Kanpur, but the student wing of the SP conspired to disrupt it.
"Before the start of the prime minister's rally, a video became viral showing workers of Samajwadi Party were damaging car having BJP posters and Modi's picture on it. But in reality they camouflaged it as BJP car whereas it actually belonged to SP worker and the car was attacked intentionally at a Muslim- dominated society to provoke tensions in the city," Patra claimed.
Despite all these provocations, he said it is appreciable that the BJP workers showed patience and did not react.
Sukant Sharma, Sachin Kesarvani, Abhishek Rawat, Niksh Kumar and Ankur Patel will be produced before a court after questioning, a senior police officer said.
Station House Officer (Naubasta) Amit Kumar Bhadana said that he was informed about a purported video showing over 10 youths raising slogans against the BJP government and burning effigies of Modi.
They tried to disrupt law and order during the prime minister's rally and also vandalised a car sporting a BJP flag and a banner carrying Modi's photo, he added.
Taking serious cognisance of the video that went viral on social media platforms, an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the IPC and criminal law amendment act on Tuesday.
Police also examined the CCTV footage and identified about a dozen persons including the five arrested.
The car has also been recovered.
"Sachin Kesarvani along with 8-10 of his associates, donning red caps, deliberately torched the effigy of the PM on Hamirpur road so as to provoke BJP activists who had come from Bundelkhand causing disturbance and violence," the FIR stated.
A statement issued in Lucknow said that Sukant Sharma, Sachin Kesarvani, Ankur Patel and others have been expelled from the party on the instructions of SP president Akhilesh Yadav for their involvement in the Kanpur incident.
Modi on Tuesday took part in various events in Kanpur, including convocation ceremony of IIT Kanpur and inauguration of Kanpur Metro.
