Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that Uttar Pradesh police had implicated a youth in a molestation case because his surname is Yadav, an OBC sub-caste that is believed to support his party.

Presenting Pawan Yadav, the accused youth, before the media at his party office in Lucknow on Thursday, Akhilesh said: “Pawan was having tea near a waterlogged area of Gomti Nagar in Lucknow, where some youths were splashing water on passersby (on July 31). The police booked Pawan only because his surname is Yadav.”

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, a Kshatriya, has often been accused by the Opposition of discriminating against other castes.

The police had booked 23 people and arrested half-a-dozen of them, including a minor, by August 7 on the basis of video clips widely shared on social media. Some of the youths were seen in the clips playing on the waterlogged road in Gomti Nagar and splashing water on passersby. A youth on a motorcycle with a girl riding pillion had fallen off after water was splashed on them.

The police swung into action two days after the incident only when social media users started criticising the state government. The police had claimed that the youths had molested the girl.

While Pawan and some others were granted bail, three accused were sent to jail and the minor was lodged in a remand home.

“I don’t know why the police booked and arrested me. I was not at the spot and the police had no evidence against me,” Pawan told reporters at the Samajwadi office.

“The state government is targeting a particular religion and caste. The chief minister had mentioned the incident in his speech in the Vidhan Sabha and taken the names of a Muslim and a Yadav as the accused,” Akhilesh said.

However, Lucknow police had stated on X on late on Thursday night: “Action was taken against Pawan Yadav... on the basis of evidence available. There were three cases against the accused in the past…. The accused has not got a clean chit in this case.”

Replying to Akhilesh's allegation, deputy chief minister and BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Friday: “We are not surprised that Akhilesh is holding a media conference to protect those molesters. His party is full of such leaders who believe that harassing people, particularly women, is their birthright.”