The Uttar Pradesh government declared in Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday that a proposal was on the anvil to formulate a stringent anti-cyber crime law for accused who foment communal hatred by posting objectionable posts on social media sites.
Parliamentary Affairs minister Azam Khan said that after the Supreme Court provided respite to those committing cyber crimes there is a spurt in such crimes. “The offenders are a big threat to communal peace of the state and it is imperative to bring a stringent act against these people,” he said.
“It is now common for anti-socials to use foul languages and post objectionable photographs or posts on the social media. As there is no stringent law hence they go scot free,” said the minister while answering a question of Dr Dharampal Singh of the BSP.
Khan said that he had personally faced such a situation when a person showered abuses at him and when he was arrested he got reprieve from the Supreme Court because there is no law against cyber crime. “The government has now decided to bring about a legislation. We need the support of each members of this House for passeing it unanimously,” he said.
Indrajeet Saroj (BSP) too said that a fake Facebook account has been created in his name and someone has posted objectionable posts. A complaint has been lodged with the police but action is yet to be taken, he said. Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey too expressed concern saying that he too had faced such situation in the past. Khan said that the government has already decided to set up 8 cyber crime police stations in the state with all modern gadgets.
Custody deaths
The Parliamentary Affairs minister said that 13 custodial deaths were reported during the past four years while the number of attacks on security forces during the same period was 1044. Radha Mohan Das Agarwal (BJP) said that it was surprising that the incident of attack on police has increased by 100 per cent in the SP regime. During the BSP regime, the number of attacks was 547 in five years while in four years of SP rule the figure has crossed 1000.
Khan, however, clarified that during the BSP regime no FIRs were lodged while under the present rule, FIRs were being lodged on a regular basis which results in increase in crime rate. The government also informed the House that 28 cases of fraud have been reported in 2015 through which youths were duped in the name of giving jobs. Seventy two FIRs have been lodged and 28 people have been arrested. The minister also disclosed that five traders were killed for extortion during 2015. To another question on the management of traffic in the UP cities, Khan said that 11 cities including lucknow will get ultra modern traffic management system.
Walk-out
Agitated BJP members staged a noisy walkout alleging taht the government was making false statements over investments in the state. While replying to a question of Congress member Anugurah Narain Singh, minister Rammurti Verma said that during the first ‘NRI and Pravasi Diwas’ held in Agra in January, 231 non-resident Indians (NRIs) took part and they proposed an investment of over Rs 1000 crore. BJP members led by its leader Suresh Khanna alleged that the government was misleading the House and staged a walkout.