Delhi Police team at Mohammed Zubair's residence in Bengaluru
New Delhi(PTI): A four-member team of the Delhi Police on Thursday reached Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair's residence in Bengaluru as part of the investigation related to his 2018 tweet that led to his arrest, police said.
Zubair was arrested on Monday for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus through the tweet. On Tuesday, a Delhi court had extended his custodial interrogation by four days.
"Our four-member team, along with Zubair who is currently in police custody, has reached his house in Bengaluru. Our team members are there to collect electronic evidence in relation to the case. This includes his mobile phone or the laptop that he must have used to post the tweet in question," a senior officer said.
On Wednesday, the police had written to multiple banks seeking information about Zubair's account details and other financial transactions. The officer also said the mobile phone being used by the co-founder of the fact-checking website has been formatted and does not have information related to the case.
According to police, Zubair has said he lost the phone which was allegedly used in posting the objectionable tweet.
Meanwhile, the anonymous Twitter handle which flagged the tweet and raised a complaint, does not exist on the microblogging site anymore, sources in the Delhi Police said.
Zubair has been booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc.) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code, according to police.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
