Meerut, Sept. 13 -- The alleged mastermind behind a social media network operating in the name of "Haidari Dal" that was spreading fake news and inflammatory posts has been arrested, police said on Friday. The Bareilly police arrested the accused Akbar Khan, from Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday. Police claimed that he was running multiple Instagram accounts, a YouTube channel aimed at spreading fake news and several WhatsApp groups. Akbar Khan is a native of Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, whose family settled in Chhindwara, according to the police. Superintendent of police, City, Manush Pareek said there were "deliberate attempts to spread misinformation and instigate violence." Earlier, five individuals linked to the network were arrested and sent to jail. The case was first registered at the Bareilly Kotwali police station, accusing the group of posting content that violated women's dignity and disturbed religious harmony. A report was also sent to Meta (the parent company of Instagram), resulting in several accounts being blocked. However, the network resurfaced quickly under new names. The investigation revealed that Akbar and his associates downloaded videos of unrelated incidents from YouTube and spread them without context, according to the police. "Whenever there was a dispute or violent incident in another city, they would repurpose the content," the police noted. On September 3, 2025, police registered a new case - FIR 444/25 - under multiple sections of the IT Act. The inquiry found that the most-followed account, Haidari Dal Official, was being operated from Chhindwara. Acting on this information, Bareilly police, with assistance from local authorities, detained and later arrested Akbar. "Akbar was attempting to expand his network across states. After tracking his activities and securing solid evidence, we moved in and arrested him on Thursday. The search for others linked to him is ongoing," Pareek said. Akbar has been sent to judicial custody. Police are now examining his call details and chat history to trace his contacts. "Five people have already been jailed. Now, Akbar has been arrested. We will not hesitate to take strict legal action against anyone found spreading hatred in the society," Pareek said....