Journalist Mohammad Zubair arrested by Delhi Police; here's why
Zubair has been booked under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc) of the Indian Penal Code.
FollowThe Delhi Police on Monday evening informed that it had arrested journalist and Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, officials said.
DCP (Cyber Crime) K P S Malhotra informed that Zubair had been booked under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc) of the Indian Penal Code.
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According to Delhi Police officials, the case was registered on basis of a post on a Twitter account named Hanuman Bhakt @balajikijaiin where he showed his anger against another Twitter handle in name of Mohammed Zubair regarding the post 'BEFORE 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel'. The picture (in the tweet) showed the signboard of 'Honeymoon Hotel' changed to 'Hanuman Hotel'.
Hanuman Bhakt @balajikijaiin tweeted, "Linking our God Hanuman ji with honeymoon is a direct insult of Hindus because he is brahmachari. Kindly take action against this guy."
The Delhi Police states that Zubair's post containing pictures and words against a particular religious community was 'highly provocative and done deliberately'. This, according to the police, was more than sufficient to incite hatred among people which can be detrimental for the maintenance of public tranquillity.
Zubair was called in for interrogation on Monday and after sufficient evidence was gathered on record, he arrest was registered, the officer said.
Zubair will be produced before a magistrate for seeking police remand.
Opposition defends Zubair
Opposition parties like the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the AIMIM among others condemned the Delhi Police action. Calling the arrest a total violation of due process, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi accused that the Delhi Police does nothing about anti-Muslim genocidal slogans but acts swiftly against 'crime' of reporting hate speech & countering misinformation.
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