UP Minister's brother booked for using PM Modi, Yogi's pics to launch InBlock mobile brand

An Uttar Pradesh minister's brother has been book for allegedly using photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to promote a mobile phone brand. A case of cheating has been registered against Lalit Agarwal on December 26 at the Hazratganj Police station, police officials requesting anonymity told news agency PTI in this regard. 

Lalit Agarwal is the brother of Kapil Dev Agarwal, UP's Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Vocational Education and Skill Development. The opposition Congress has demanded a CBI probe into the matter. When contacted, Kapil Dev Agarwal told the news agency, "My brother is being made a soft target. There is no merit in the case, and he will be cleared of all the charges."

According to reports, Lalit Agarwal, who runs an advertising agency, had put up the photographs of Prime Minister Modi and UP Chief Minister Adityanath on a hoarding in the run-up to the launching of a mobile phone brand. The launch took place on December 22. As questions were raised about the photos, they were removed from the hoarding by the advertising agency on December 26. It had also apologised over the matter.

Congress demands CBI probe

Meanwhile, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu demanded that the matter be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

"The way in which in the garb of 'vocal for local', a minister held a press conference on the launch of a mobile phone, and told the public that along with being fully 'swadeshi', it is part of the skill development scheme (kaushal vikaas yojana), proves that corruption is at its peak in Uttar Pradesh," he said in a statement in an apparent reference to Kapil Dev Agarwal.

"This incident should be probed by the CBI, and people behind the scene should also be unmasked," he added. According to media reports, the Congress also alleged that the company which developed the so-called ‘Swadeshi’ phone asked Lalit Agarwal to advertise and promote it in exchange of a huge sum of money.

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The InBlock phones by FESSChain, which is part of Delhi based JaiTech India, were officially launched on December 22. The company’s founder and CEO Durga Prasad Tripathi offered an "unqualified apology", saying it was a mistake to use the images of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister on the brand’s invitation banners in Lucknow without their permission. He said that the phones were supposed to go on sale from January 1 but might get delayed due to the ongoing developments.

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(With PTI inputs)