Hyderabad man held again over ‘provocative’ slogans against BJP legislator
The police commissioner said Kashaf has been posting provocative and inflammatory messages and videos in the social media through his Twitter account with an intention to promote enmity between Hindus and Muslims and cause breach of communal peace and disturb public tranquillity
The Hyderabad police on Tuesday arrested Syed Abdahu Quadri alias Kashaf (27), whose inflammatory slogan went viral in the social media following alleged blasphemous comments made by Bharatiya Janata Party legislator T Raja Singh against Prophet Mohammed last week, a top official said.
Kashaf was first arrested on August 24, soon after his slogan surfaced in the social media, but was released on bail by the local court on the same night.
On Tuesday, however, the Cybercrime police of Hyderabad arrested him for a second time under Telangana Preventive Detention Act, 1986 and sent him to Chanchalguda jail.
“He was booked under Section 153(A) (promoting enmity between two different groups), 505(2) (making statements inciting people to create disturbance) and 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) of Indian Penal Code,” Hyderabad police commissioner C V Anand said in a statement.
Raja Singh, too, was arrested under the same PD Act and sent to Charlapalli jail on August 25, two days after he was granted bail by the local court within hours of his arrest for his alleged blasphemous comments.
The police commissioner said Kashaf has been habitually posting provocative and inflammatory messages and videos in the social media through his Twitter account with an intention to promote enmity between Hindus and Muslims and cause breach of communal peace and disturb public tranquillity.
On the intervening night of August 22 and 23, Kashaf, along with many others, staged a dharna in front of the police commissioner’s office at Basheerbagh and protested against the BJP legislator’s remarks.
“Kasaf instigated the protestors to raise provocative and inflammatory slogans as “Naara-e-Takbeer Allah Hu Akbar,” “Gustak-e-Rasool ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda” (beheading is the only punishment for a person who disrespects the Prophet),” Anand said in the statement, adding that since the video and slogans went viral on national television channels and social media platforms, it created disturbance to public order throughout the country.
He reminded that subsequent to his slogans, there were widespread protest programmes with violent incidents in different parts of the Hyderabad in the next two days.
Apart from the latest incident, Kasaf was also involved in three other offences in the past, including inciting people through video messages to protest against Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens, protest against the alleged demolition of a mosque in Shameerpet and a case related to an attack on Congress leader and former MLC Mohammed Ali Shabbir.
