Uttar pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after the latter condemned an attack on an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad.

Accusing Rahul of spreading "poison" through "lies", the UP CM tweeted, “The first lesson of Lord Shri Ram is - "Speak the truth" which you have never done in life. You should be ashamed that even after the police told the truth, you are engaged in spreading poison in the society. In the greed of power, humanity is being humiliated. Stop humiliating, defaming the people of Uttar Pradesh.”

Earlier in the day, Rahul reacted sharply to an incident in Ghaziabad in which an elderly Muslim man was allegedly beaten up and asked to chant 'Jai Shri Ram', saying such cruelty is shameful for both society and religion.

In a video on social media, the elderly Muslim man has accused four men of beating him up, chopping his beard and asking him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' in the Loni area of Ghaziabad.

The Ghaziabad police said it has already registered an FIR and arrested a man, Parvesh Gurjar, for his involvement in this alleged incident which took place on June 5 but was reported to police two days later.

Tagging a report on the incident, Rahul Gandhi said, "I am not willing to accept that true devotees of Lord Ram can do such a thing."