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Alt News co-founder case: Custody of Zubair sought by Sitapur police put off
Supreme court steps in hours before custody remand was to begin, grants him five-day conditional bail
The six-day custody remand sought by Sitapur police of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, 33, in connection with the FIR lodged in Sitapur district, has been postponed. This follows the Supreme Court granting him a five-day conditional bail in the same matter.
In all likelihood, Zubair will now be handed over to the Delhi police to aid in the investigation of an FIR lodged in Delhi, police officials said on Friday.
Zubair was arrested on June 27 by the Delhi Police for a 2018 tweet and has been in judicial custody since then. He was brought to Sitapur on Monday in connection with a second police complaint filed against him on July 1 for allegedly inflaming communal passions. In his tweet he had called three controversial right-wing leaders ‘spreaders of hatred’.
He has been lodged in Sitapur jail since then and the local court had allowed a six-day custody remand on Thursday to the local police to interrogate him in connection with the case.
Sitapur circle officer, city, Piyush Kumar Singh, said that the remand period was to start from 10 am on Friday. He said that now, with the Supreme Court stepping in, the remand period will now be suspended. He said the Sitapur police will again approach the local court to fix dates for his custody remand after his interim bail is completed.
“We have to yet to receive the hard copy of the bail order and will act as the court would have directed in it,” said the CO and added, “Most probably, we will have to hand him over to Delhi police as the bail is provided to him only in the Sitapur case,” he said.
Early on Friday, the apex court granted Zubair conditional bail, directing him not to tweet and not to leave Delhi, while other conditions of the bail will be fixed by the Sitapur district court.
