In a “preventive measure”, a 54-year-old Muslim cleric was arrested at Amod in Bharuch on Sunday for an alleged provocative social media post that could potentially “breach communal peace” ahead of Monday’s Eid-ul-Adha.
The Bharuch district police has booked the accused — Maulvi Abdul Rahim Rathod, who is a cleric of Daru Uloom Barkat-e-Khwaja — for “promoting enmity” after his social media post describing the Islamic “ritualistic procedure” for animal sacrifice enlisted the cow among other slaughter animals such as camels and buffaloes. Notably, the cleric was out on bail after his arrest in a 2022 case for alleged conversion of tribals in the district.
“The post put up by the cleric was instigating in nature as it explicitly mentioned cow-slaughter. We acted before a situation could arise. In fact, the cleric also put up an apology after posting the first message as he was aware that the police were coming after him,” said Bharuch Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda.
He was arrested based on an FIR lodged by Amod Police Sub-inspector RA Aswar under IPC Sections 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups), [295(A)] (deliberate and malicious acts, that are intended to outrage religious feelings) and 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) as well as IT Act. The district police said the arrest was made as a ‘preventive measure’ to avert an untoward law and order situation ahead of the approaching festivals, including the Rath Yatra, which will be held in the first week of July.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.