Five held for pelting stones at BEST bus over Muslim cleric’s detention in hate speech case

An officer said that in the FIR registered following the case, a total of 16 people have been named as accused in addition to other unidentified persons. An officer said the police are going through the CCTV cameras to identify the other accused persons.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Maulana Mufti Salman Azhari who was arrested in a hate speech case requested his supporters not to protest and said, “…Neither am I a criminal, nor have I been brought here for committing a crime. They are doing the required investigation and I am also… https://t.co/rQHuf6LNK1 pic.twitter.com/7a8vZ32O46

— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2024

Hemraj Rajput, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said an FIR was registered on charges of obstructing a public servant from performing his duty among other sections.

A massive crowd had gathered demanding the release of Azhari who had been picked up from his Vikhroli residence by a team of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which is probing the hate speech case, and brought to the Ghatkopar police station. By 11 pm, a crowd of nearly 3,000 to 4,000 people had gathered outside the police station.

The police asked Azhari to tell the gathered crowd to disperse. After Azhari made the announcement over a loudspeaker, some crowd dispersed but nearly 1,500 people stayed back. After they tried stopping buses on the road and allegedly pelted stones at a bus, a police team led by Rajput lathicharged them and cleared the main road in the next 15-20 minutes with the help of reserve police.

An officer said that Azhari’s posts are popular among youngsters on social media platforms.

Late at night, Azhari’s medical examination was conducted at Sion Hospital after which he was produced before a night court which gave the Gujarat Police transit remand for two days to take him to Gujarat.

An officer said Azhari has FIRs registered against him in the past, including one in Mumbai.

On Saturday, the police in Gujarat’s Junagadh had arrested two persons after a video of an inflammatory speech allegedly delivered by Azhari went viral on social media. The speech was delivered at an event held on an open ground near ‘B’ division police station in Junagadh on the night of January 31, an officer said.

After the video went viral, an FIR was registered against Azhari and local organisers Mohammad Yousuf Malek and Azim Habib Odedara under sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief) of Indian Penal Code. The police have already arrested the local organisers in connection with the case.