Mufti Salman Azhari faces 2nd FIR for ‘hate’ speech in Kutch

A local court in Junagadh sent Azhari and two others – Yousuf Malek and Azim Odedara – to one-day police remand on Tuesday in connection to the case. The police had sought a custody of 10 days of the three men.

While Malek is a Junagadh-based builder who had sought police permission for the event organised under the aegis of Al Azim Charitable Trust on January 31, Odedara is the president of the trust.

The Samakhiyali police, meanwhile, booked Azhari and Mohammadkhan Mor, president of Gulshane Mohamadi Trust that organised the event in Kutch. “We came to know that in Samakhiyali also, Azhari had delivered a speech similar to one he delivered in Junagadh,” Kutch (East) SP Sagar Bagmar told The Indian Express.

He added that the event at Samakhiyali was also organised on January 31, the day Azhari delivered an alleged hate speech in Junagadh. “The event was organised on the morning of January 31. We came to know yesterday (February 5) that Azhari had delivered a hate speech at the event,” Bagmar said.

Azhari was booked under sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief) of the IPC in connection with the event in Kutch.