The stringent National Security Act (NSA) was slapped against a Samajwadi Party worker in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad who was arrested over an "objectionable" social media post about an assault on an elderly Muslim man here, officials said Wednesday.
Ummaid Pehelwan Idrisi was arrested from Delhi on June 19 by the Ghaziabad Police after an FIR was lodged against him at the Loni Border police station in connection with the case.
"The accused has been booked under the NSA," Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad Rural) Iraj Raja told PTI.
According to officials, the stringent law has been invoked against Idrisi as he had "put out objectionable content on social media with an intention to create communal disharmony".
Under the stringent NSA, an accused can be detained in jail for a period of one year, subject to review by a high court every three months.
The FIR, filed on the complaint of a local policeman, alleged that Idrisi had "unnecessarily" shot the video in which Abdul Samad Saifi claimed an attack by some young men, and that his beard was chopped off and he was forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.
The FIR alleged Idrisi made the video with an intention to "create social disharmony" and shared it through his Facebook account.
Idrisi was booked under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups on ground of religion, class etc), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (public mischief).
A separate FIR was lodged against him on June 17 in the adjoining Bulandshahr district, the native place of Saifi, that charged him and around 100 others with violation of the COVID-19 norms by holding a public gathering in connection with the attack on Saifi on June 16, the officials said.
The police maintain that Saifi was attacked on June 5 over personal enmity and the episode was given a communal colour by some people. So far, around a dozen accused in the assault case have been arrested, the officials said.
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