 "Alt News' Zubair gets death threat, pork; FIR against 16 Twitter handles")
Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair filed a complaint with Bengaluru Police alleging that he received death threats online.
According to an Indian Express report, pork was also sent to Zubair's residence through courier. Following Zubair's complaint, Bengaluru police registered a First Information Report (FIR).
Alt News co-founder alleged that 16 Twitter handles were responsible for posting his address on social media. Zubair also claimed that a Twitter user @cyber_Huntss sent him pork during Ramadan. A tweet of which was posted on Twitter along with Zubair's address, however, it was later deleted.
A case was registered at the DJ Halli police on April 17, however, it only came to light on Thursday. The case was filed under various sections including 505 (public mischief), 153a (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).
Mohammed Zubair in his complaint informed Bengaluru police that all the mentioned Twitter accounts are using their social media presence to incite mob violence against Zubair by disclosing his address, spreading lies and falsehoods about him, and targeting his Muslim identity.
He further alleged that those named in the complaint have not only sought that he should be killed or harmed, but they have also targeted his Muslim identity, while also promoting enmity between two religious groups/communities.
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According to a report in The Wire, Zubair also received death threats previously in March 2023 from several pro-Hindutva influencers. The report suggested that a few of the online threats came after Zubair confronted a man who made abusive references to women in his family.
Zubair has often been the target of abuse by the Hindutva right wing, who have also filed criminal cases against him. In June 2022, he was arrested for allegedly “hurting religious sentiments” through one of his tweets, says the report.