The cleric was, however, released late in the evening by the police even as residents along with some local politicians staged a protest outside Jamia Nagar police station.
The senior cleric, who is almost 80 years old, was picked up from Zakir Nagar in Jamia area around 3 PM.
While senior police officials remained tight-lipped over the issue, sources said that he was questioned over an Urdu book written by him which has been recently translated into English.