Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a court in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district Monday, about 125 kilometres from here, in connection with a case lodged last year charging him with promoting enmity between groups.
The police had sought 14-day custody of Zubair to quiz him in connection with the case but the court sent the Alt News co-founder to jail in judicial custody and posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.
Zubair, who was currently lodged in UP's Sitapur district jail, was produced before the court through video conferencing.
According to the police sources here, one Ashish Kumar Katiyar, who claimed to be a local reporter for a private TV news channel, had lodged a complaint against Zubair at Mohammadi Kotwali police station in Lakhimpur Kheri in September last year.
The complainant said that Zubair had "edited" a video and posted it on the website of his news portal inciting religious feelings. The district police had obtained an arrest warrant against Zubair a few days ago and served him the same in Sitapur district jail.
Katiyar on Monday alleged that he was threatened by two youths with dire consequences if he did not withdraw the case against Zubair and sought police protection. In a complaint lodged with the police, he said that two motor bike-borne youths threatened to kill him if he failed to withdraw the case.
Zubair had been arrested by the Delhi police on June 27 on charges of inciting religious feelings through a tweet. The Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Zubair in the case lodged against him in Sitapur.
Published 11 July 2022, 09:53 IST