UP Police Registers FIR Against ‘The Wire’ & Its Journalists For Video On Gareeb Nawaz Mosque Demolition
UP Police yesterday registered an FIR against online news portal, The Wire for for allegedly spreading animosity in society and disturbing communal harmony over its video documentary on the demolition of a “mosque” by district administration.
The FIR was registered by Barabanki Police station at 8:07 PM at the behest of the complaint made by Mahendra Singh against the news website and its two journalists who did a report on the Gareeb Nawaz Mosque demolition issue in Uttar Pradesh.
The FIR has been registered under IPC sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 505 (1) (b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
Last month, the Barabanki district administration demolished a mosque located in the Ramsnehi Ghat Tehsil premises. The district administration called it an “illegal structure”.
The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board had termed the district administration’s action illegal and moved the Allahabad High Court against it. The matter is currently pending in the High Court wherein the court had sought response of the State Government and the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Barabanki.
Recently, an FIR was registered against Alt News Co-Founder Mohammed Zubair and 8 others for allegedly sharing a 'fake' video to fan communal tension. The other accused include Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi, the Wire & congress leaders Shama Mohammed, Salam Nizami & Maskoor Usmani.
Twitter Inc. & Twitter Communications Pvt. Ltd. have also been named in the FIR for failing to take down/flag the tweets.
The Bombay High Court bench of Justice PD Naik on Monday granted 4 weeks protection to Rana Ayyub, who had sought indulgence of an anticipatory bail viz. the FIR filed against her and 8 others on June 15 2021 at Uttar Pradesh for allegedly sharing a 'fake' video to fan communal tension.
Yesterday, the Karnataka High Court bench of Justice G Narendar granted interim stay against notice issued by UP Police to Twitter India’s employee Manish Maheshwari under Section 41A of CrPC.