The Uttar Pradesh home department on Tuesday ordered an inquiry by a special investigation team against a government official after social media users shared a video claiming that he was encouraging religious conversion.
There were conflicting reports on what Mohammad Iftikharuddin, the chief of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, could be seen doing in the purported video.
An NDTV report said that Iftikharuddin was “preaching about religious conversion at his official residence”. Meanwhile, a report by The Indian Express said that he was “attending an event related to religious conversion”.
The state home department tweet on the SIT inquiry did not clarify on the matter either.
“A special investigation team inquiry has been ordered into the matter related to Kanpur-based IAS [Indian Administrative Services] officer Mr Iftikharuddin,” the home department said.
Director General of Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department GL Meena will head the special investigation team while Additional Director General of Kanpur zone Bhanu Bhaskar is the other member.
The team has been asked to submit its report on the matter within seven days.
Several social media users shared the video where a person could be seen preaching religious sermons to a group of people.
Scroll.in could not verify if Iftikharuddin could be seen in the purported video. The content of the sermons also could not be ascertained due to poor audio quality.
On Monday, Kanpur Police had said that they were investigating whether the video was genuine and if it amounted to some offence.
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