The Bareilly police in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, 7 July, arrested a man who allegedly threatened to behead suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
The arrest was made hours after a video of the accused, identified as Nasir Hussain, was shared on various social media platforms.
"We have arrested Nasir Hussain for issuing threats online and trying to incite communal tensions. The accused was arrested from his house in Kassawan area under Faridpur Police station limits," Superintendent of Police Rajkumar Agarwal told PTI.
The accused has been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and IT act in a First Information Report (FIR) registered at Faridpur police station.
The arrest comes days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the police to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against any activity or comment supposedly aimed at inciting communal tensions.
Advocate's Clerk Arrested for Threatening Colleague
Meanwhile, Jodhpur Police on Thursday, arrested an advocate’s clerk for allegedly threatening to behead his colleague for a WhatsApp status in support of Nupur Sharma and her remarks.
As per the police, the accused, one Sohail Khan, threatened the complainant, Mahendra Singh Rajpurohit, right after he posted the social media status on 6 June.
After principal seat of the Rajasthan High Court reopened on Monday, 4 July, Rajpurohit filed a complaint and Khan was arrested.
In another incident, an advocate’s clerk identified as Vikram Singh, was booked for allegedly sending an objectionable message in a WhatsApp group in the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, the police added.
Singh sent an objectionable message in a WhatsApp group of advocates' clerks on 1 July but instantly deleted it, saying that he forwarded it by mistake, according to police.
Singh's colleague Nadeem confronted him over the message and lodged a complaint against him. Both are advocates' clerks in the Rajasthan High Court's Jaipur bench, the police said.
Later, the accused filed a petition in the high court seeking to get the FIR registered against him quashed.
A single-judge bench of Justice Birendra Kumar heard the plea on Wednesday and stayed Singh's arrest.
While pronouncing the order, the court said, "The petitioner shall not be arrested in the aforesaid FIR till further orders with conditions that petitioner shall fully cooperate with the investigation of the case. The state respondents are directed to ensure protection to (of) the life and liberty of the petitioner and his family which cannot be at stake otherwise than due process established by law," PTI reported.
Police Book Man From Nuh
Further, the Nuh police has booked a man for allegedly declaring a Rs 2 crore reward for cutting off the tongue of Nupur Sharma.
The action by the police came after a purported video of Salaheri resident Irshad Pradhan declaring the reward surfaced on social media.
The purported video showed Pradhan offering the reward to a YouTuber on behalf of entire Mewat to cut off Sharma's tongue. Tensions had erupted in the area after the video was widely shared on social media.
The man is heard purportedly saying in the video, "Bring her tongue and take Rs 2 crore. Do it and take the money right now," PTI reported.
Nuh Superintendent of Police Varun Singla said police have identified the accused and booked him under relevant provisions of the IPC.
Singla said, "Action will be taken as per the law. Our social media cell too has been pressed into action to ensure no such instigating content is supported or circulated in the district."
He also appealed to people to not spread such videos and communal content.
"Main accused Irshad did not just say this on video but later also uploaded the same on his Facebook page. Police teams are conducting raids to nab him," a senior police officer further said.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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