Zubair’s arrest: Police “bending over backwards to please sahibs”, Trinamool MP tweets
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has tweeted that the Delhi Police are "bending over backwards to please sahibs".
Moitra came up with the remarks after Muhammad Zubair, a journalist and co-founder of Alt News, was arrested by Delhi Police on June 27 evening for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through a post on Twitter.
Zubair's tweet, posted in March 2018, more than four years back, had a questionable image which allegedly was aimed at deliberately insulting the god of a particular religion, reported NDTV.
"Delhi Police bending over backwards to please sahibs & thumb nose at law," Mahua Moitra tweeted.
Zubair was arrested "on a trumped up case" without notice while assisting in the case where the High Court had given him protection, she also said.
The arrest came even as "Ms Fringe Sharma enjoys life of protection" at tax payers' expense for exactly "same offences," Moitra added.
A number of Indian political leaders, including Mahua Moitra and Rahul Gandhi, among others, have come down heavily upon the BJP-led Central government over Zubair's arrest.
The Delhi Police reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is under the helm of BJP stalwart Amit Shah.
"Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.
Earlier this month, suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma's derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) triggered violent protests in several states and were sternly criticised by a number of countries, reported NDTV.
"It is much easier to cry foul when someone not from your own party is allegedly hurting religious sentiments," reads a tweet by the official Twitter handle of the Trinamool Congress.
"Arrest Nupur Sharma, and show the country that the same rules apply to all," the tweet added.
"Nupur Sharma remains untouched while Zubair gets arrested for calling out the wrongdoings. We strongly condemn this act," Srinivas BV, president of Youth Congress, wrote in Twitter.
Zubair was arrested without any notice given by the police, although it is mandatory under the law to give prior notice for the sections under the case he was arrested in, alleged Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha.
Police, however, claimed that Zubair was arrested in a new case "after having sufficient evidence on record".
He was being questioned in a separate, older case prior to the arrest, they added.