Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair trends on Google as Ghaziabad cops add 'endangering sovereignty of India' charge

'On Thursday morning, police filed an affidavit confirming the addition of two sections — Section 152 and Section 66 of the IT Act,' Zubair’s legal representative, Vrinda Grover said.

Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair became a trending topic on Google after the Ghaziabad police added charges of “endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India” and violations under the Information Technology Act in an FIR registered on October 8.

Searches for Zubair surged around 500 per cent with over 500 searches on Google, Google Trends noted.

Zubair, as a topic, suddenly spiked in searches.

Notably, Google showed that searches for 'Zubair arrest' were very high.

Zubair’s legal representative, Vrinda Grover told the Indian Express, “During Monday’s hearing, the Uttar Pradesh Police mentioned adding new sections to the FIR but were asked by the court to formally record this. On Thursday morning, they filed an affidavit confirming the addition of two sections — Section 152 and Section 66 of the IT Act.”

“Previously, the charges carried sentences of less than seven years, which didn’t necessitate arrest. However, the inclusion of Section 152 has significant implications, potentially jeopardizing personal liberty. We remain hopeful that the court will address these issues appropriately,” Grover further explained.

A complaint lodged by one Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, has alleged that Zubair posted a video clip of an old programme of Narsinghanand on October 3, 2024 with the intent to provoke violence by Muslims against him.

The complaint further alleged that Zubair posted edited clips of the priest on X (formerly Twitter) containing Narsinghanand's alleged incendiary remarks on Prophet Muhammad to incite radical sentiments against the controversial priest. In his X Post, he called the alleged speech of Narsinghanand 'derogatory'.

Zubair has been booked under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 356(3) (defamation) and 351(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Zubair has already filed a writ petition before the court requesting to quash the FIR and asking for protection from coercive action. The petition also states that at the time of making the derogatory remarks against Prophet, Narsinghanand was on bail in another hate speech case where his bail condition stipulated that he would not make any statements which promote communal disharmony.

(With PTI inputs)