India: Madhya Pradesh govt slaps National Security Act (NSA) on duo for Facebook post

The Times of India

MP govt slaps NSA on duo for Facebook post
TNN | May 31, 2016, 03.11 AM IST
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government on Monday booked two Mumbai youths under the National Security Act (NSA) for an "offensive" Facebook post on a Hindu deity. The two cannot file for bail for the next two months.

A special investigation team (SIT) had on May 19 arrested Ali Hassan Sheikh (32) and Abdul Qayyum Qureshi (31) from Mumbai with help from local cops after hard-line saffron outfits warned of protests against Bhopal police for not catching them. NSA will stretch their detention for 60 more days. Accused of hurting religious feelings and promoting enmity, they are in Bhopal central jail. They have been denied bail twice after police opposed their pleas. While Sheikh works as a bodyguard for a builder, Qureshi owns an electronic goods shop. SIT tracked Sheikh through one of his Facebook friends. Later Qureshi was also nabbed.

Their lawyers tried to challenge the slapping of NSA, claiming that they were being implicated without any concrete evidence. Police officer Mukhtar Qureshi, however, said there was sufficient proof against them. "The posts are very provocative," he said. On May 10, hundreds of right-wing activists reached a police station in Bhopal demanding action against the two who posted and 'liked' an offensive post against a Hindu deity on a Facebook group called 'Naadan Parinday'.

This is the second time this year that state police have charged someone under the 'preventive detention' Act. The previous case was against BJP functionary Anwar Mev for allegedly slaughtering a cow in Dewas district in February.