Two persons have been arrested by Junagadh police in Gujarat on Saturday, February 3, after a video of an allegedly ‘inflammatory speech’ delivered by a Muslim preacher, went viral on social media.
The cleric, Mufti Salman Azhari, was booked after cropped clips of his speech were shared on social media by right-wing trolls claiming that he was delivering hate speech against Hindus. However, Azhari later stated that he was referring to Palestine and other Muslim countries.
Police were trying to trace the preacher, Mumbai resident Mufti Salman Azhari, said superintendent of police Harshad Mehta. The speech was delivered at an event held on an open ground near the ‘B’ division police station on the night of January 31, he said.
After the video went viral, an FIR was registered against Azhari and local organisers Mohammad Yousuf Malek and Azim Habib Odedara under Sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief), the SP said.
“We have arrested Malek and Habib while efforts are on to nab Azhari. The arrested men had taken permission from the police for the gathering stating that Azhari would speak about religion and spread awareness about de-addiction. But he made an inflammatory speech,” the official added.
(With inputs from PTI)
