2 Mumbai men arrested for posting offensive images of Hindu gods and PM Modi on Facebook

Local Press Co 5-point Snippet

1. A special team from the Mumbai crime branch arrested two men from the city last week for posting and sharing offensive images of Hindu gods and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Facebook.

2. The accused, identified as Ali Hassan Sheikh (32) and Abdul Qayyum Qureshi (31), had shared the objectionable images of Hindu deities and PM Narendra Modi on the Facebook group ‘Naadan Parinde’. The pictures had caused an uproar in Bhopal, with Hindu outfits threatening to stage mass protests if the culprits weren’t nabbed.

3. Bhopal police registered an FIR under sections 291 (continuance of nuisance after injunction to discontinue) and 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class) of the IPC on May 10. After looking into their Facebook profiles, they realised that the accused were from Mumbai and a team was dispatched to the city.

4. Joint investigation of the Mumbai Crime Branch and SIT from Bhopal, finally led them to a Facebook friend of Sheikh’s who turned out to be a police constable. After he was called in for questioning, constable Anand Rajput didn’t admit to knowing Sheikh, but revealed that the two were friends because they shared a common interest of bodybuilding.

5. The investigation team then laid a trap for Sheikh by messaging him from Rajput’s account and asking for bodybuilding tips. After the accused shared his mobile number, the team tracked his location to Antop Hill and nabbed him in no time. He led them to Qureshi and both are currently in Bhopal SIT’s judicial custody.