3 min readRajkotFeb 6, 2024 12:32 PM IST
First published on: Feb 6, 2024 at 12:30 PM IST
The Junagadh district police, with the help of Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), arrested cleric Mufti Salman Azhari in Mumbai on Sunday in connection with an alleged hate speech he delivered in Junagadh on January 31.
This is the first arrest in connection with the case registered at B Division police station in Junagadh following a complaint filed by a sub-inspector of the same police station.
“After Junagadh police sought our help, we managed to trace the cleric in Mumbai and handed him over to them,” a senior ATS officer said on Monday.
ATS SP Om Prakash Jat told The Indian Express, “We are currently investigating his (Azhari’s) Trust (Junagadh-based Al Azim Charitable Trust) to see if someone is provocating him to do all this and also looking into his foreign visits and funding.”
According to his bio on X, Azhari is the founder of Jamia Riyazul Jannah, Al-Amaan Education and Welfare Trust and Darul Amaan.
Junagadh SP Harshad Mehta told mediapersons on Monday that a police team was on its way from Mumbai to Junagadh with Azhari. “The speech given at an event in Junagadh by Maulana Salman Azhari, a resident of Mumbai, could have disturbed communal harmony, breached peace and promoted enmity among communities. Therefore, police took cognizance of a video that had gone viral on social media and lodged an FIR against the organisers of the event… as this was a serious matter, Gujarat ATS was also looking for him,” he added.
The police said that Al Azim Charitable Trust had organised the event on the ground of Narsinh school in Junagadh on January 31 to spread “awareness about religion and getting rid of addictions”. The organisers had, among others, invited Azhari to address a gathering at the event.
According to the police complaint, in the name of religious sermon, Azhari – with an intent to “mislead Muslim community” – delivered a “hate speech, which can promote enmity between two communities and incite hatred towards government”. The complaint also stated that the organisers continued the event even after its stipulated time got over.
Based on the complaint, Junagadh residents Yousuf Malek and Azim Odedara as well as Azhari, were booked under sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious groups) 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief), 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) of the Indian Penal Code.
Police said that Malek is a Junagadh-based builder who had sought police permission for the event under the aegis of Al Azim Charitable Turst and that Odedara is the president of the Trust.
The SP said that Malek and Odedara had organised the event. “We had rounded up the two local organisers and initiated legal proceedings against them.”
Inspector J J Patel, in charge of Junagadh local crime branch, said he arrested Azhari from Ghatkopar police station in Mumbai after he was brought there by Gujarat ATS. “We produced him before a court in Mumbai on Sunday seeking his transit remand. The court granted us his two-day transit remand… We will produce him in a Junagadh court and seek his remand,” he added.
“After Junagadh police sought our help, we managed to trace the cleric in Mumbai and handed him over to them,” a senior ATS officer said on Monday. (Representational Photo) 
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