By Scroll Staff
The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested a cleric from Bihar for allegedly making objectionable remarks about the mother of Chief Minister Adityanath, The Times of India reported on Tuesday.
Two cases were registered against the cleric, Maulana Abdullah Salim, in Uttar Pradesh. One of the first information reports was filed on March 7 in Balrampur based on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party chief of the district Ravi Mishra, PTI reported.
Salim allegedly made the remarks about Adityanath’s mother on May 5, 2024, during a social reform and educational awareness conference in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, The Times of India reported. The remarks later surfaced on social media, leading to legal action in Uttar Pradesh.
Mishra claimed that the cleric had also tried to incite Muslims against the law prohibiting cow slaughter, PTI reported. The complaint said that the remarks angered BJP members and Hindus and threatened to disturb social harmony.
Salim has been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to intentional insult to provoke a breach of peace and public mischief, the news agency quoted Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar as saying.
After his arrest, the cleric admitted that he had made the remarks and apologised for them.
“During the conference, some inappropriate and offensive words came out of my mouth which should not have been spoken,” The Times of India quoted the cleric as saying in a video statement recorded after his detention. “I fold my hands and sincerely apologise for my actions.”
After being brought to Uttar Pradesh, Salim was produced before a local court, which remanded him to judicial custody. He is in a jail in Bahraich.
This story was originally published in scroll.in.