External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today directed Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to take up with the Saudi government the arrest of an Indian engineer from Telangana for allegedly posting a "blasphemous" photo on social media.
"I have asked our Ambassador in Saudi Arabia to take this up with the Saudi Government @IndianEmbRiyadh," she tweeted.
Her response came after one Naseema Khan brought the case of Shankar Ponnam who was arrested by Riyadh police nearly one-and-half months back.
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Ponnam, who is in his 40s and works as an agricultural engineer, allegedly posted on Facebook a doctored photo of the Kaaba, a sacred site in Islam.
He is from Jagtial district in Telangana and is an employee with a farm in Tameer district of Al-Majmaah region.
Ponnam offended the sentiments of Muslims by posting the photo of holy Kaaba and his act triggered a social media outcry and condemnation, Col. Fawaz Al-Maiman, spokesman for Riyadh Police, was quoted as saying by local media in Riyadh.
He said police confiscated the mobile phone used by Ponnam to post the "blasphemous photo".
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