Hours after Islamic preacher Mufti Salman Azhari was granted bail by a Gujarat court on Thursday, he was detained under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, Maktoob Media reported.
Azhari was detained in the town of Modasa upon his release from Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Jail on Thursday and transferred to the Vadodara Central Jail later that night. His supporters gathered in large numbers outside the Vadodara jail amid heavy police deployment and had to be dispersed, The Indian Express reported.
After a video of a speech that Azhari gave on January 31 was shared widely on social media, the police filed a case against him and two event organisers named Mohammed Yusuf Malek and Azim Habib, under Sections 153B (promoting enmity between different groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief) on the Indian Penal Code.
On Thursday, Azhari was additionally booked under Section 298 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the Indian Penal Code. Further, the police alleged that Azhari made derogatory remarks against the Scheduled Caste community during a speech in Modasa, and invoked the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against him.
Azhari was first arrested in the case from Mumbai, on February 4. When the police took Azhari in custody, a large crowd of his supporters gathered outside the Ghatkopar police station in Mumbai, demanding that he be released immediately.
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