UP Police Forms SIT To Probe Cases Against Alt News Co-Founder Mohammed Zubair

The SIT will probe six cases registered against Zubair across Uttar Pradesh.

Cases have been registered against Mohammed Zubair across UP, in places such as Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Hathras, Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday, 12 July, formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe six cases registered against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in the state.

Cases have been registered against the fact-checker across UP, in places such as Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Hathras, Ghaziabad, and Muzaffarnagar.

In the case registered against him in Sitapur, Zubair has been accused of allegedly hurting religious sentiments by calling Hindutva leaders Yati Narasinghanand Saraswati, Bajrang Muni, and Anand Swaroop "hate-mongers."

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the interim bail granted to Zubair in the case. The matter is listed on 7 September for final disposal.

Lakhimpur Court Sends Zubair to 14-Day Judicial Custody

Meanwhile, a court in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday sent Zubair to judicial custody for 14 days.

A warrant was issued by the Lakhimpur Kheri Police against him on 9 July over a case registered against him in 2021 for allegedly spreading enmity between religious groups.

In the FIR accessed by The Quint, the complainant, named Ashish Kumar Katiyar, accused Zubair of propagating fake news on Twitter with the motive of disturbing communal harmony, following which a case was registered under Section 153-A (promoting enmity between two groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)

On the other hand, the fact-checker on Monday moved a court in Delhi seeking bail in the case registered against him over a 2018 tweet in which he had shared an image from a Hindi film that showed the signboard of a hotel visibly changed from 'Honeymoon Hotel' to 'Hanuman Hotel.'

Notably, the image in question is taken from the scene of a Bollywood movie Kissi Se Na Kehna, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, which has aired on TV several times.

Zubair was arrested on 27 June by the Delhi Police for the 2018 tweet under Sections 153 (promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and 295 (outraging religious feelings) of the IPC.