Fresh trouble for Zubair as Lakhimpur local court issues arrest warrant against him

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Fresh trouble hit Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair only a few hours after he got reprieve from the Supreme Court which granted him 5-day interim bail in a case registered in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh as Lakhimpur Kheri police obtained the warrant B against the journalist in a case lodged at Mohammadi police station on charges of promoting enmity between two groups under Section 153(A) (promoting enmity between two groups) of IPC, last year.

In Sitapur, Zubair was facing a case lodged against him for hurting religious sentiments through a tweet on some of the seers.

In the case, lodged at Mohammadi police station, the Lakhimpur Kheri court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) has summoned Zubair to appear before it on July 11. Meanwhile, a team of Kheri police, led by investigating officer (IO) Dhiraj Shukla, reached the Sitapur jail on Saturday and served the warrant on Zubair.

The Lakhimpur Kheri case was filed in September last year on a court directive. 

However, Kheri SP Sanjeev Suman claimed that it was the responsibility of the jail officials to produce Zubair in Lakhimpur local court on July 11 as the warrant was served on the accused in Sitapur jail.

According to the Kheri police sources, one Ashish Kumar Katiyar had submitted a complaint accusing Zubair of circulating false news on Twitter in order to disturb communal harmony. Following the complaint, a case was lodged against the journalist under IPC Section 153-A.

Zubair was brought to Sitapur from Delhi two days back and was lodged in the district jail in connection with a separate case filed at Khairabad police station last week. Delhi Police produced Zubair before a local court in Sitapur and it had sent him to six-day custodial remand of the police.

Sitapur jail superintendent Suresh Singh said that Sitapur police on Friday morning took Zubair’s custody but brought him back to jail after a few hours following Supreme Court order to grant him interim bail of five days in Sitapur case. Now, two warrants – one each of Delhi and Lakhimpur Kheri—were pending against Zubair, the superintendent said.

He added said that it would soon be decided as to where the journalist should be sent as he had not been granted bail in the cases lodged against him in Delhi and Lakhimpur Kheri.