The Kanpur police have invoked Gangster Act against five former Samajwadi Party workers and their three aides, accused of plotting a ruckus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally on December 28.

The action has been taken on the orders of the commissioner of police, Asim Kumar Arun, in view of the investigation done so far and criminal record of the accused.

During the police investigation on the basis of the viral video it came to fore that the vehicle, which was vandalised on the day the Prime Minister visited the city, belonged to SP leader Ankur Patel.

The conspiracy was hatched by another SP leader Sachin Kesarwani, a resident of Awas Vikas Colony in Naubasta.

Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Kanpur on December 28, a video went viral on social media in the evening on the same day. In the video, SP workers could be seen indulging in vandalisation and burning effigies of BJP leaders, including Prime Minister and the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in front of a four-wheeler.

So far, the police have arrested eight persons, including Ankur Patel (SP leader), Sachin Kesarwani (SP leader), Sukant Sharma (SP worker), Abhishek Rawat (SP worker), Nikesh Kumar Yadav (SP worker) and Ansh, Jitendra and Arun in this connection. They have been sent to jail.

The Samajwadi Party has also expelled the five accused in the case.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)