Gujarat: Surat Maulvi arrested for alleged plot to kill Hindu leader

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Surat Police arrested a Muslim cleric, or Maulvi, on Saturday for allegedly plotting to assassinate a Hindu organisation's leader, according to a senior police official. Maulvi was also arrested for threatening the chief editor of a television channel and Telangana BJP leaders, including an MLA and a former party spokesperson.

The accused faces accusations under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including religious vilification, fabrication of documents or electronic data, criminal conspiracy, and provisions of the Information Technology Act, reported ANI.

Per the news agency report, the cleric was arrested under IPC Sections153 (A) (indulge in wanton vilification or attacks upon the religion, race), 467, 468 and 471 (related to forging of documents or electronic record) and section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy.

A police official told the news agency, "Police investigation revealed that the 27-year-old accused is a Maulvi and teaches in a madrasa. The accused was in contact with a person named Dongar from Pakistan and a person named Sehnaz from Nepal for the last 2 years. Both the accused from Pakistan and Nepal had instigated the accused Maulvi that the Prophet was being defamed continuously by Hindu organizations in India."

Commissioner of Police, Surat, Anupam Singh Gehlot, informed ANI that the accused conspired with individuals from Pakistan and Nepal to offer a Rs 1 crore contract for the killing and to procure weapons from Pakistan to execute the plan.

"Surat City Crime Branch had received information that a person's movement was anti-national and therefore he was under watch. He was detained in the Chowk Bazar area of Surat and his mobile was checked. He was chatting with the people from Pakistan and Nepal. His plan was to first target the leader of a Hindu organization," Gehlot explained.

The commissioner added that the accused was provided with a SIM card in Laos by his handlers from Pakistan and Nepal.

"The accused used social media to spread communal animosity, to upload photos of the national flag of India and make lewd comments in posts or videos about Hinduism. He created a false electronic record and ordered arms from foreign handlers," a release stated. The arrested individual maintained communication with WhatsApp numbers associated with various countries, including Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Laos, as per the release.