Prophet tweet row: FIR against ex-BJP functionary Naveen Kumar Jindal

PUNE: An FIR has been registered against expelled Delhi BJP media head Naveen Kumar Jindal in Pune city in Maharashtra for allegedly outraging religious feelings through his post on Prophet Mohammad, police said on Saturday. The case is registered at the Kondhwa police station in the city on the complaint lodged by a local resident, Zakir Ilyas Sheikh, an officer said.

''The complaint alleges that Jindal has hurt religious feelings of Muslims by tweeting controversially about Prophet Mohammad on June 1. Based on the complaint, a case has been registered against Naveen Kumar Jindal,'' he said. Jindal is slapped with sections 153-a (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-b (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295-a (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 298 (Uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings) and 505-II (statements conducting public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Earlier this month, an FIR was registered against the then BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma at Kodhwa police station for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the Prophet during a news channel debate. The case against Sharma was lodged by Abdul Gafur Pathan, a former corporator of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

The BJP had on June 5 suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled Jindal after their alleged derogatory remarks against the Prophet led to an outrage in India and Gulf countries.

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