The Bhadohi police on Tuesday lodged an FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Ramesh Chand Bind on hate speech charges. Advertising This comes a day after an inquiry found that a video of his speech that was widely circulated on social media was genuine and a report was submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Uttar Pradesh. In the video that went viral last week, Bind was allegedly threatening a particular community at a function. Rajendra Prasad, District Magistrate, Bhadohi, asked the police to conduct an inquiry following the directive of the UP CEO office. The inquiry was completed on Monday and a report was submitted to the District Magistrate who forwarded it to the CEO office. In his statement to the police, Bind denied making any such statement and claimed that the video was doctored. Click here for more election news “The case has been lodged on a complaint by a local resident, Amrish Tiwari, against Ramesh Chand Bind under IPC section 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony),” said Sanjay Kumar Rai, station house officer, Gopiganj police station. Advertising “The complainant did not mention about the inquiry conducted by the police earlier. Amrish alleged that the accused made objectionable comments against the Brahmins,” added Rai. The police had not lodged a case of violation of model code of conduct as inquiry found the alleged statement was made during a function organised at a college campus in Suriyava area of the district in September 2018. “If needed, the case will be transferred to Suriyava police station,” informed a police officer. “The inquiry report was sent to the UP CEO office. I ordered an inquiry after the Election Commission sought a report on the viral video,” said DM Rajendra Prasad. SP Rajesh S said, “There was no violation of Model Code of Conduct because the statement was made last year in September.” Three-time MLA from Majhawan seat in Mirzapur district, Ramesh Chand Bind was expelled from the BSP on February 19 this year. A month later, Ramesh Chand joined the BJP on March 26. The party declared him candidate for Bhadohi Lok Sabha seat on April 15. Circle Officer, Gyanpur (Bhadohi), Kalu Singh, who conducted the probe, said, “I scanned the video in which Ramesh Chand Bind is seen giving the speech. I collected details from local people and found Ramesh Chand Bind made the statement at a function organised by Bhadohi district unit of Akhil Bharatiya Bind Mahasabha at an inter college premises on September 16, 2018.” The college is at Sagarpur area under Suriyava police station of Bhadohi district. “To verify the fact, I recorded statement of principal of the inter college where the function was organised. The principal confirmed about the event,” said Kalu Singh. Ramesh Chand Bind refused to speak on the matter and said, “It was politically motivated.” For the Bhadohi seat, the Congress has fielded former BJP MP from Azamgarh, Ramakant Yadav, and BSP has fielded former minister Rangnath Mishra. Bhadohi will go for polls on May 12.

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