FIR Filed Against Alt News Co-founder Zubair for Inciting Temple Protest | Noida News – Times of India

GHAZIABAD: Two days after protests began against Dasna Devi temple priest Yati Narsinghanand, who was booked here and in Maharashtra last week for hate speech, an FIR was filed on Monday against fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair for allegedly inciting these demonstrations.
The basis for the FIR, which invoked a range of charges from promoting enmity to defamation, was a complaint filed by Udita Tyagi, a BJP member and independent director at hydropower PSU SJVN who was part of a crowd that protested outside the police commissioner’s office against Zubair.
Tyagi alleged that Zubair had not only uploaded on X a video of Narsighanand making the remarks in Lohia Nagar on Sept 29, but followed it up with a series of tweets against the priest on Oct 3 and 4.
This, she claimed, incited protesters and led to a demonstration outside Dasna Devi temple on Saturday. Prohibitory orders were imposed under BNS Section 163 across the city that day, restricting the assembly of five or more persons.
Six PAC companies and police personnel were deployed as well to prevent the escalation of tension. Since then, a case has been registered against the protesters, 10 of whom have been arrested and one, a minor, detained.
Police conducted flag marches and deployed quick response teams across the district. In her complaint, Tyagi alleged the clips posted by Zubair were “edited” and led to an “attack” on the temple in which she and the priest narrowly escaped. She also claimed to have received death threats on social media after that.
The FIR against Zubair was registered under BNS sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 356(3) (defamation), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of BNS.
Zubair took to X, saying, “as expected FIR against me”. Police commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra said the FIR was part of action that was being taken against people making social media posts that could possibly foment tension. Mishra said others were being investigated as well. This isn’t the first time an FIR has been filed against Zubair in Ghaziabad over his social media posts – in 2021, he and the erstwhile Twitter India was named in a case filed at Loni border police station.
The crowd that gathered outside Mishra’s office on Monday claimed Narsinghanand was “missing” from the temple premises and sought to know his whereabouts. Asked where Narsinghanand was, police sources said teams were working to nab him.