INDIA. Delhi: Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, appeared in court on Saturday. Zubair has petitioned the court for bail, while the Delhi police have asked for a 14-day judicial custody order. Charges of criminal conspiracy, evidence destruction, and violation of FCRA 35 have been added by Delhi Police against Zubair.
The prosecution has stated before a Delhi court that they are looking into donations allegedly received by Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair from several foreign nations, including Pakistan. This is in opposition to Zubair’s request for bail after he was arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments as a result of a complaint about a 2018 tweet.
Police had previously issued a statement claiming that the cash was received by a media business. However, his attorneys claimed that the police had deceived the court. The court is anticipated to issue its ruling in the case soon.
“Zubair received payments through RazorPay from Pakistan, Syria, Australia, Singapore, and the UAE, all of which require further investigation,” additional public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava told the court.
“If you accept something – donation, etc from a person of a foreign country – then it’s a contravention. As per our CDR analysis, he has accepted through Razor gateway, from Pakistan, Syria, etc which all things require further investigation,” Srivastava argued.
Zubair was placed in police custody for four days on June 28 after Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Savaria ruled that he was “uncooperative” and needed to be transferred to his Bengaluru home so that the phone/laptop that was used to post the tweet that sparked a user complaint could be recovered.
During questioning, the Delhi police discovered Zubair to be uncooperative and evasive, so they sought his custody.
Delhi Police raid Zubair’s home
As part of its investigation into the case brought against him for a 2018 tweet that resulted in his arrest, a four-person team from Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) division the accused to his Bengaluru residence and seized a laptop and hard disc, according to officials familiar with the situation.
The first and ground levels of his residence next to Kawal Byrasandra were searched. In the search, Bengaluru police helped their Delhi colleagues.
