Mumbai: Mumbai Police has arrested two newspaper vendors for selling copies of the Urdu daily Avadhnama that reprinted controversial cartons of Prophet Mohammed last month.
The two vendors, identified as Shareef Shaikh (60) and Salman Shaikh (18), were nabbed on Wednesday night. Yesterday, police produced them before a Swai court where the duo was released on bail.
Riyaz Chaali, complainant and also trustee of a local mosque, had filed a case against Shareef and Salman on January 29 alleging they had sold copies of the daily that carried controversial cartoon of Prohet.
Both vendors are from the Bhendi Bazaar area, police said. They have been charged under Sections 295 (A) (acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
Complainant, police said, wanted a fresh case registered against the paper's editor, Shirin Dalvi, but a fresh case against her cannot be filed in the city as she is already facing two FIRs.
The cartoons were originally carried by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last month. On January 7, masked gunmen had forced their way into the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, killing 12 people and injuring many.
