On April 19 last year, the case was lodged against Munawar at George Town police station in Prayagraj after a complaint by local lawyer Ashutosh Mishra.
In connection with a case lodged against him at Prayagraj in April last year, Uttar Pradesh Police have obtained a production warrant for stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui.
They have submitted the production warrant at Indore district jail, where Munawar is currently lodged after being arrested for alleged objectionable remarks against Hindu deities, officials of Uttar Pradesh police said. However, the Indore jail superintendent said they have not received the warrant yet.
On April 19 last year, the case was lodged against Munawar at George Town police station in Prayagraj after a complaint by local lawyer Ashutosh Mishra.
Police said that the complainant had alleged he had found a video on social media in which Munawar made insulting statements against Union Home Minister Amit Shah and tried to create hatred between communities. Police said he also alleged that Munawar hurt religious sentiments through remarks on Hindu gods and goddesses in another video.
The case was lodged under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), and sections 65 and 66 of Information Technology Act.
SSP, Prayagraj, about four months back, transferred the investigation into the case from George Town police station to the Crime Branch.
Investigating officer Inspector Dhakeshwar Singh said: âOn coming to know that Munawar Faruqui is lodged at Indore Jail, we moved a local court and obtained his production warrant. On January 7, we served the production warrant at Indore jail and submitted another copy at a court in Indore.”
Police tried to locate Munawar during the investigation, but failed to reach him, he said, adding that the FIR did not have much information.
It did not have the name of Munawarâs father and the comedianâs address mentioned in it was found to be wrong, he said.
âThe majority part of the investigation has been completed, including recording the statements of witnesses. The statement of Munawar could not be recorded,â Singh said.
Rajesh Kumar Bhangre, the superintendent of Indore jail, said they were yet to receive any communication with regard to the production warrant. âWe will seek the courtâs opinion in case we receive the warrant. Once the court grants permission, Munawarâs custody will be handed over to UP police.â
Anshuman Shirvastav, Munawar’s lawyer in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, said, âWe will move for anticipatory bail once we have details of the warrant and the case.â
If the anticipatory bail plea is rejected, Munawar will be handed over to UP police after securing his bail from MP.
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