Delhi Police’s Special Cell registered case against fact checker Mohammed Zubair
The Delhi Police’s Special Cell has arrested Alt News co-founder and the fact checker Mohammed Zubair for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Later in the evening, Delhi Police was given one day custody of the journalist. The Special Cell’s Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit had registered a case after a complaint was received from a Twitter handle alleging that Zubair had tweeted a questionable image with the purpose to deliberately insult a deity of a particular religion.
“A case was earlier registered under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Zubair,” said KPS Malhotra, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), IFSO unit of the Special Cell.
“Zubair joined the probe on Monday and after gathering sufficient evidence on record, he was arrested,” said the DCP. As per sources, Zubair was evasive on the questions and neither provided the necessary technical equipment for the purpose of the investigation nor cooperated in the probe.
Significantly, Zubair was the first person to share suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma's alleged remarks against Prophet Mohammed during a TV debate. The controversial statement made by Nupur Sharma had earlier set off an international furor.
Several Muslim nations, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia and Iran, as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation have officially protested their statements and demanded an apology. Following the uproar, the BJP suspended Sharma and another leader, Naveen Kumar Jindal, who also made insulting comments against Prophet Muhammad on social media.
However, soon after her comments, Sharma was targeted on social media and received thousands of death threats following which the police provided a security cover to her. Sharma had lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police on May 27 alleging that she has been receiving death threats and target hatred against her.