Dr Kafeel Khan booked over book ‘inciting people, creating division’

Krishna Nagar Station House Officer Jitendra Pratap Singh said, “Dr Kafeel was booked after a local resident alleged a book written by him was being distributed to incite people against government and create division in society.”

The police said they have started a probe into the case and are trying to identify the other accused. The case was lodged under Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery to make or transfer any valuable security, or to receive money), 468 (forgery for cheating), 465 (forgery), 471 (using forged as genuine), 504 (insult to provoke breach of peace), 505 (statements causing mischief), 295 (defiling a place of worship to insult a religion), 295-A (malicious acts to outrage religious feelings), and 153-B (assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the IPC.

When contacted over phone, Dr Khan said, “Neither the government nor the police have told me anything about it. The book in question is available on Amazon and has been on sale for two years. I have been staying outside UP for four years. The book in English has been translated by some people into Hindi and Urdu. I don’t know why they have registered a case against me now,” said Khan.

In September 2020, the Allahabad High Court revoked charges under National Security Act (NSA) against Khan, and ordered to immediately release him as he had been in a Mathura jail for nearly six months. Khan was accused of delivering a provocative speech at Aligarh Muslim University in December 2019 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The case against him was lodged for allegedly “disturbing public order’.