A day after the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case filed in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, an arrest warrant has been issued against him in Lakhimpur Kheri district of the State.
The warrant is issued based on a complaint filed by Sudarshan news journalist Ashish Kumar Katiyar who had originally filed the complaint through the court on September 18 last year. Based on that complaint, the police have now initiated proceedings to take Zubair into their custody.
In his complaint, Katiyar had stated that the Alt News co-founder played a malicious role in uniting Muslims, across the world, against India and peddling communal discord even during the Coronavirus pandemic.
He informed that the cops initially refused to lodge a complaint, thereby forcing him to knock on the door of the court. Later, an FIR was registered against Mohammed Zubair at the Mohammadi police station on the directive of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM).
Charges were pressed against the accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups).
While talking to Opindia, Katiyar said, “The case is pending for the past 10 months. After Delhi and Sitapur police, now the Lakhimpur police have initiated proceedings against Zubair.”
He also informed that the Alt News co-founder will soon be brought to Lakhimpur Kheri. Opindia also reached out to the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Mohammdi police station.
“We have submitted warrant B at the Sitapur jail. The matter is being investigated as per the rules,” he informed. It must be mentioned that warrant ‘B’ is issued when the police wants to seek custody of an accused, who is booked in a different jail or a district.
The case against Mohammed Zubair in Sitapur
On June 1, Khairabad Police of Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh filed an FIR against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair for using derogatory language against Mahant Bajrang Muni Udasin, Yati Narsinghanand and Swami Anand Swaroop.
The FIR was registered based on the complaint of Bhagwan Sharan, district head of Rashtriya Hindu Sher Sena, under sections 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The Sitapur court in Uttar Pradesh rejected the bail plea of Alt News co-founder and propagandist Mohammed Zubair on July 7, 2022. Judge Abhinav Srivastava denied the bail on the grounds that the accused may influence witnesses or commit similar new crimes.
Later, Zubair obtained interim bail from the Supreme Court of India. However, he will continue to remain in judicial custody in Delhi.
