Mohammed Zubair, the self-described fact checker and founder of propaganda outlet Alt News, was booked under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), related to endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, the officer investigating the case told the Allahabad High Court.
The FIR was registered following a complaint by supporters of Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Dasna Devi Temple in Ghaziabad, regarding a tweet Zubair posted on X, following which the temple was mobbed by Islamists. Zubair, known for dog-whistling against his victims like the former BJP leader Nupur Sharma after she quoted Islamic scriptures on a live news debate, approached the High Court seeking protection from arrest in connection with the FIR.
On November 25, the High Court directed the investigating officer to submit an affidavit before the next hearing, detailing the specific legal provisions under which Zubair was charged.
In the affidavit filed today, the officer stated that two additional sections were included in the FIR: Section 66 of the Information Technology Act and Section 152 of the BNS.
The Court allowed the amendments and scheduled the next hearing for December.
In October this year, an FIR was filed against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair following the attack on Dasna Devi Temple in Ghaziabad, alleging that Zubair and two other Muslim leaders, including Arshad Madani and Asaduddin Owaisi, tried to incite Muslims around the country and got local Muslims to get outsiders to destroy the ShivShakti Dham in Dasna.
The FIR was filed based on a complaint lodged by BJP leader Dr Udita Tyagi on October 7 at the Web City police station in Ghaziabad after the temple attack on October 5 by a mob of Islamists that had tried to lay siege to the Shiv Shakti Dham after a video shared by Zubair had gone viral on the internet.
In her complaint, Ms Tyagi alleged that the October 5 attack was a preplanned conspiracy by Islamists against the Shiv Shakti Dham in Dasna.
She also alleged that Owaisi, Zubair, Madani, and other Muslim leaders have been constantly instigating the public to kill Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati. She had asked the police to mark the individuals trying to whip up a communal frenzy and take appropriate action against them. Dr Tyagi has also demanded that Yati Narsinghanand should be released and granted adequate security.
