New FIR against Zubair in UP over remarks on Yati, 2 others, say police

Zubair was arrested on June 27 by Delhi Police for a 2018 tweet satirising a 1983 movie sequence.

Lucknow: A second police complaint was filed against journalist Mohammed Zubair in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district for allegedly inflaming communal passions by calling three controversial right-wing leaders “spreaders of hatred”, state police said on Monday.

Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News (PTI)

One of the three is Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, priest of the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad, who is facing multiple charges in Delhi and UP for alleged hate speeches at a Dharam Sansad in Haridwar earlier this year.

Zubair was arrested on June 27 by Delhi Police for a 2018 tweet satirising a 1983 movie sequence. Delhi Police have charged the co-founder of fact-check website Alt News 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, 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (disappearance of evidence) and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act ( FCRA) but his lawyers say that there is nothing offensive in the tweet and its a blatant case of malafide. He is currently in judicial custody after a Delhi court denied him bail on Saturday. He was brought to Sitapur on Monday, said police.

The Sitapur case was registered on June 1 on a complaint by Bhagwan Sharan, the district president of the Hindu Sher Sena, a local Hindu outfit. Zubair was booked under sections 295A and 67 IT Act of the Indian Penal Code for promoting enmity between two groups and for misusing social media platform.

“Zubair was brought to Sitapur in connection with another warrant issued to him in case registered here over his viral tweet. He was produced here in a Sitapur court and was sent back to Delhi,” said Rakesh Dikshit, additional superintendent of police, Sitapur.

The tweet referenced Mahant Bajrang Muni, Swami Anand Swaroop, and Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati.

Zubair, who was instrumental in flagging controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed by suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma, had also earlier exposed cases of alleged hate speeches made at a Dharm Sansad in Haridwar.

Zubair was first arrested on June 27, after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him based on a Twitter post. The case was registered at the Special Cell police station under IPC sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) on the complaint of a Twitter user with profile name “Hanuman Bhakt” and handle @balajikijaiin, police said.

In the March 24, 2018 tweet, Zubair had said “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel” and attached a scene from a famous 1983 Hindi film, Kissi Se Na Kehna, that showed a hotel signboard where the name of the establishment was ostensibly changed. His arrest sparked a wave of condemnation from opposition leaders.

On Saturday, chief metropolitan magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria dismissed Zubair’s bail petition after hearing the submission of the defence counsel and special public prosecutor (SPP) Atul Srivastava. The court observed that since the investigation was at the initial stage and in view of the circumstances and gravity of the offence, no ground was made out for bail.

The police submitted that three new sections for destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Act were added to the FIR. Police said Zubair received donations from foreign countries such as Pakistan, Syria, Australia and nations in West ASIA.

Zubair’s lawyers did not respond to call or text messages for a comment.