On Thursday, the Telangana Police detained suspended BJP leader Thakur Raja Singh again for his alleged ‘blasphemous’ remarks against Prophet Mohammad. The former BJP leader was arrested from his residence in Hyderabad. This is two days after he was arrested and released on bail in the Prophet remarks case.
Hyderabad Police said that Raja Singh has been detained under the Preventive Detention Act as per the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City, and has been lodged in the Central Prison at Cherlapally in Hyderabad. A press note issued by Hyderabad Police on Raja Singh said that he has been delivering provocative and inflammatory speeches and driving a wedge between communities leading to public disorder. Informing that Singh has been labelled as a rowdy sheeter at Mangalhat Police Station, the police said that Raja Singh committed blasphemy by making objectionable comments on Prophet Mohammad in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
The police also informed that as many as 101 criminal cases are registered against him, and he is involved in 18 communal offences registered in different police stations in the city.
Hyderabad has been witnessing massive protests against his bail, with Islamists raising slogans demanding to behead him. According to the reports, the Islamists took to the streets and held demonstrations throughout the night and also raised slogans continuously demanding the beheading of T Raja Singh.
#WATCH | Telangana police arrests suspended BJP leader T Raja Singh from his residence in Hyderabad for his alleged remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2022
Massive protests had taken place on August 23, against the leader for his alleged statement. pic.twitter.com/PzwxHWHcY8
On August 23, T Raja Singh’s attorney argued in the bail plea that no notice was served to the MLA under Section 41(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court accepted this argument of the lawyer and granted bail to T Raja Singh. Subsequently, severe protests erupted across the state. The sloganeering by the mob increased so much that the police had to disperse the crowd with lathi-charge and by using tear gas.
Old City, #Hyderabad : Protesters agains gathered at Shalibanda giving Sar Tan Se Juda slogans against suspended BJP MLA #RajaSingh pic.twitter.com/48IANolGal
— Pramod Chaturvedi (ANI) 🇮🇳 (@PramodChturvedi) August 24, 2022
Reportedly, the Telangana State Police also approached the state High court on August 25 by moving a criminal review petition challenging the bail order of a Magistrate at Nampally metropolitan court who rejected the remand report pertaining to the arrest of BJP MLA T Raja Singh in Prophet remarks case.
Hyderabad: Telangana State Police on Thursday approached the state High court by moving a criminal review petition challenging the bail order of a Magistrate at Nampally metropolitan court who rejected the remand report pertaining to the arrest of BJP MLA T Raja Singh in Prophet pic.twitter.com/wOQWzQDPse
— Deccan News (@Deccan_Cable) August 25, 2022
The Hyderabad police in the petition stated that the accused is habituated to committing similar offences for several years and he is involved in more than 17 criminal cases. “The intention of Raja Singh appears to be very clear that he has published the incriminating video with a view to promote hatred, enmity between groups on the ground of religion, caste and faith and that the accused himself claimed that this is not the end and he is going to release many videos in future”, the Police said advocating Singh’s arrest.
The petition by the Telangana Police further mentioned that the accused had made several attempts in the past to disturb the peace and harmony in the city and engaged into communal tensions. “The accused is a troublemaker. He on his Youtube channel has uploaded videos which are targeting a particular community. He said that he will release one by one video and that the police are deliberately trying to delete the same from Youtube”, the Police stated.
Reports mention that the Chief Justice of High Court Ujjal Bhuyan will hear the petition on Friday, August 26. Police said that he has been continuously creating hatred and ill-will between major communities through his blasphemous utterances, resulting in widespread unrest among people, which has adversely affected the maintenance of public order.
The incident also comes a day after suspended BJP leader Raja Singh posted a video on Twitter claiming that he might get arrested in a couple of days. He said that the police were compiling all the earlier cases filed against him and were planning to arrest him. “I can be arrested today or tomorrow. All I would like to say is that if someone says bad about my religion to my country, then I will answer him in his language, whatever the punishment may be, now Hindus are not going to back down”, he tweeted seeking the support of Hindus from across the country.
मुझे आज या कल गिरफ्तार किया जा सकता है
— Raja Singh (@TigerRajaSingh) August 25, 2022
मैं बस इतना कहना चाहूंगा कि अगर कोई मेरे देश मेरे धर्म को बुरा कहेगा तो मैं उसे उसी की भाषा मे जवाब दूंगा चाहे इसकी सजा जो भी हो अब हिन्दू पीछे हटने वाला नही
आशा करता हु की इस धर्म युद्ध मे हर हिन्दू हमेशा की तरह मेरा साथ देगा
जय श्री राम pic.twitter.com/wOLpOGsvZC
Earlier today, the Shahinayatgunj and Mangalhaat police also issued legal notices to Singh in hate speech related cases booked against him in earlier this year in April. The Police alleged that Singh had passed derogatory comments in the Ram Navmi rally and also had delivered a provocative speech. “If Hindus were to target the traitors (Muslims) similarly, they would run out of business and would not even be in a position to beg as even alms are given to the poor by Hindus,” he had allegedly said.
The complaint was then filed by an individual named G Madhusudhan against Raja Singh who said that the latter was disturbing public peace and tranquillity, and also causing traffic jam in the procession route. Also, case under section 188 of IPC and Section 21 and Section 76 of the City Police Act was registered against Singh.
So far, eight different cases have been booked against Raja Singh with the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police under sections 153-A, 188, 295-A, 298, 505(1)(B)(C), 505(2), 506, 504, etc of the IPC. He has been arrested by the Telangana Police from his residence in Hyderabad.
