A BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh has appealed to the Chief Minister over the arrest of her husband, who has been accused of creating a fake audio clip that suggests that people are being paid for tweeting in favor of Yogi Adityanath. The going rate is Rs 2 a tweet, the audio clip suggested.

“My husband Ashish Pandey has revered the name of Yogi Adityanath for four years. This must be a test of respect, devotion and sincerity. I request Yogi Adityanath to let me meet him, so I can present my husband’s side of the story,” Dr Preeti, the state BJP’S co-coordinator of its NGO Wing and a member of the state child rights body, said in a Hindi tweet.

The Kanpur police arrested Ashish Pandey and Himanshu Saini on Sunday. They have been charged with forgery and cheating, among other things.

The police said Ashish Pandey workers with a firm that performs social media management for various clients. Reports in the local media suggest that till recently, he was part of a team that handles social media-linked work for the Uttar Pradesh government and the Chief Minister’s Office.

There has been no comment from the government or the Chief Minister’s Office over the arrests.

The complainant, Atuk Kushwaha, is a competitor of Pandey. He reportedly runs social media handles of many celebrities and politicians in the state. In his complaint, he said the audio clip was intended to defame him.

The 1 min 10 second clip contains a conversation between two unnamed individuals who are allegedly claiming that people will be paid Rs 2 per tweet for posting messages with specific hashtags in favor of the Chief Minister.

Among others, the clip — which surfaced on May 30 — was shared by retired IAS officer Surya Pratap Singh, a known critic of the Yogi Adityanath government. He faces police cases over a few posts that are allegedly fake.

In his tweet accompanying the clip, Mr Singh alleged that the men in the conversation were known to a prominent BJP leader.

A police statement said the audio was a distortion created by mixing two separate conversations — one of them involving a minor. The police claim they have recovered laptops, mobile devices as part of their investigation.