A man was seen pushing a garbage cart in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, a scene nothing too out of the ordinary but for the framed photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the pile of discarded items. The municipal corporation employee lost his job after the video of the incident went viral on social media.
"I have nothing to do with this. It was in the trash, so, I put them in my cart," he can be heard saying when cornered by a group of men about the photos.
A few devotees from Rajasthan's Alwar spotted the man with the hand-held cart and filmed and shared the incident on social media.
"There's a photo of APJ Abdul Kalam, too," a man said, taking out the photos from the cart.
The men were later seen washing the photos. "We are taking these photos with us to Alwar. Modi ji and Yogi ji are the soul of this country," they said.
Several on Twitter have criticised the video. "This is wrong... CM is a constitutional position and must be respected by all," wrote one. Some questioned the action against the man. "Photos can get old and worn out no matter whose it is. Is there any process for disposal of such old photos then," asked one user.
"The man put the photos in his cart unknowingly. An action has been taken against him and his job has been terminated with immediate effect," said Satyendra Kumar Tiwari, additional municipal commissioner, Nagar Nigam Mathura-Vrindavan.