Hyderabad: BJP MLA T. Raja Singh, who was arrested and released on Tuesday for allegedly making derogatory statements against Prophet Mohammed, faces 49 cases include delivering derogatory speeches, hurting religious sentiments and anti national statements in different police stations of the city, a police officer disclosed.
The trouble started after Raja Singh released a short video on Monday. Police said his supporters resisted his arrest but the police dispersed them and arrested him from his house in Mangalhat.
Before his arrest, and as crowds started gathering in the Old City, the police collected the MLA’s speech video as evidence and had it deleted it from Youtube. The video had been uploaded on Monday and had gone viral before it was deleted on Youtube.
Raja Singh spoke briefly to the press, denying the charges against him and alleging that the TRS government was framing him as the BJP was getting good response. “I did not say anything against God, I do not know why the police have filed an FIR against me,” he said.
On August 20, Raja Singh was detained for threatening stand-up comedian Munawar Farooqui. The same day, he had announced that he would be releasing a video against Prophet Mohammed, police sources said,
The arrest was based on a complaint lodged by Mohammed Wajhiuddin Salman at 4.29 am on Tuesday. Dabeeerpura police filed an First Information Report (FIR) against Raja Singh, “Raja Singh has been constantly making vulgar statements against Prophet Mohammed, the police should take a stringent action against him for hurting religious sentiments,”,Wajhiuddin stated in his written complaint.
Late in the evening, after Raja Singh was released on a personal bail, scores of protestors waiting at Chanchalguda prison from 5 pm to see him being led into the prison, began raising slogans against the BJP MLA. However, police rushed to the spot and dispersed the protesters.
The court accepted Raja Singh’s lawyer’s argument that the police did not issue notice under CrPC 41(A) to the accused before the arrest. The Supreme Court has directed that a notice should be issued to the accused before the arrest in cases which attract below seven years of imprisonment, Raja Singh’s advocate said.
Mild tension prevailed at the court as pro and anti-Raja Singh people gathered and indulged in slogan shouting. Police had to resort to mild lathi-charge to disperse them.
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