Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Amit Sarkar of the Alipore Police Court on Monday granted the Kolkata Police further custody of Wajahat Khan till June 23.
He had been arrested on June 9 by Kolkata Police for “alleged hate speech” in his social media posts. Khan had filed a complaint against law student and social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli for alleged hate speech in a post she had made.
The Haryana Police was also present in court on Monday with a warrant for Khan and had sought arrest.
Khan’s counsel Sankhajit L Mitra submitted in court, “We are praying for bail… we will cooperate with the investigation.”
Chief Public Prosecutor Sourin Ghosal argued, “… We are asking for police custody as one mobile phone has been seized and another is still missing. We are still looking for the mobile and laptop. We are also investigating the post which was deleted but screenshotted. The investigation is in full swing; the roots are very deep.”
Following Panoli’s arrest, at least five complaints were filed against Khan (30), across West Bengal, for allegedly promoting hate speech and allegedly hurting religious sentiments through his social media posts. Following a tip-off, the Kolkata Police arrested Khan from the Amherst Street area.
One day later, a Kolkata court remanded Khan to six days of Kolkata Police custody till June 16.
Khan, who is the co-founder of the Rashidi Foundation, has been booked under BNS Sections 196(1) (a) (promoting enmity between different groups), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens), 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace), and 353(1)(c) (statements that incite public mischief). Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that a case was also registered against Khan in Assam for allegedly making “unacceptable comments against Devi Maa Kamakhya”. “
The first complaint against Khan was filed by the Shri Ram Swabhiman Parishad on June 2. The organisation alleged that Khan’s posts promoted enmity between religious groups and could incite public disorder.
On May 30, the Kolkata Police had arrested Panoli (22) from Gurgaon over her allegedly objectionable social media post. She was released on interim bail on June 5.