Case against journalist Vineet Narain who accused Ram Temple Trust member of land grab in UP's Bijnor

An FIR was lodged by Rai's brother Sanjay Bansal against Journalist Vineet Narain and two others--Alka Lahoti and Rajnish.

The FIR was made following a Facebook post, four days ago, by journalist Vineet Narain accusing Rai of facilitating land grab by his brother, in their home town in the Bijnor district, according to an NDTV report.

In the post, Narain alleged that Rai helped his brothers grab 20,000 square metres of land in a cow shelter owned by NRI Alka Lahoti, who is also named in the FIR, said the report.

He claimed in the post that Lahoti has been trying to evict encroachers since 2018 and appeals to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take action, it added.

According to the NDTV report, Sanjay Bansal searched for the number of Narain and called him to clarify the facts of the case.

However, the phone was picked up by a man called Rajnish who misbehaved with him and threatened to kill him, he alleged in the complaint, said the report.

The FIR accuses Narain of "promoting enmity on the grounds of religion", "providing false evidence", "cheating" and "trespass" among other charges, the report stated.

Less than a day after the FIR was lodged, Bijnor police chief posted a video statement on Twitter apparently to support Bansal's version of the case but added that the police team was still investigating the matter, the NDTV report added.

"The local police are investigating. Mr Champat Rai is a senior leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and a member of the Ram Temple Trust and the accusations against him by the accused are baseless and prima facie the accusations against his relatives are baseless too. We are ascertaining all the facts," Bijnor police chief Dr Dharm Vir Singh said in the statement, the report stated.