Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, was taken to Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh where a fresh FIR has been filed against the journalist for allegedly inflaming religious sentiments through his tweets. The new case was filed based on a complaint by Bhagwan Sharan, the district president of Hindu Sher Sena.
The journalist has been booked under sections 295A and 67 of the Indian Penal Code for his tweet where he had targetted Mahant Bajrang Muni, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati and Swami Anand Swaroop and termed the trio as "spreaders of hatred."
A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the bail plea of Zubair and sent him to 14-day judicial custody, citing the nature and gravity of the offences against the accused and observing that the matter is at the initial stage of investigation.
Zubair is accused in a case related to an "objectionable tweet" he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity.
The Delhi Police has alleged that Pravda Media, under which Alt News operates, received over Rs two lakh through various transactions where either the mobile phone number or the IP address was of foreign countries.
The Alt News rejected the allegations and claimed that the multiple allegations against it were an attempt to shut it down.
Our payment platform through which we receive donations does not allow receipt of funds from foreign sources, and we have received donations from Indian bank accounts only, the Alt News said in a statement.