Zubair was arrested early this week for allegedly hurting religious sentiment from a tweet that was published in 2018.
New Delhi: Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of the fact-checking website Alt News, who was detained in association with an alleged inflammatory tweet in 2018, now faces additional charges from the Delhi Police.
The lawsuit against the fact-checker reportedly involves Section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act as well as criminal conspiracy and evidence destruction allegations.
The Delhi Police said, “Criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence charges added to the FIR along with Section 35 of the FCRA,” after producing Mohammed Zubair at the Patiala House court.
The Enforcement Directorate may engage in the money laundering inquiry if Criminal Conspiracy gets involved in the FIR.
Zubair is being sought for 14-day judicial detention by Delhi Police.
Mohammed Zubair was seized by the Delhi Police on June 27 after the trial court ordered him to remain the next day in police detention for allegedly offending religious feelings in one of his tweets.
Zubair was booked earlier this month with breaching Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting enmity between distinct groups based on religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act designed to incite religious emotions) (IPC).
According to the police, the investigation was opened following a Twitter user’s accusation that he had offended religious sensitivities.
The Delhi Police detained fact-checker Mohammed Zubair on Monday after a Twitter user who wishes to remain anonymous reported one of his tweets. On Twitter, the handle “@balajikijaiin,” which is anonymous, has been deleted after the complaint.
“We are trying to identify and trace the usage of the Twitter account to ascertain the reason behind him or her deleting the account. However, we suspect that the person must be scared after the matter came to the limelight,” a source in the Delhi police told PTI.
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