The Kollam police arrested five activists of the Indian Mujahideen from the venue of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Sankar’s discourse here on Wednesday night for distributing pamphlets and compact disks that contained messages insulting religious beliefs.
Four of those arrested were Kollam natives. The fifth man hailed from Malappuram. They were identified as Sunil, 38; Narsh, 23; Anas, 24; Jihad, 24; and Abdul Al Sabad, 21 (from Malappuram). All of them were produced before a magistrate court here on Thursday and remanded in the district jail for 14 days.
Sub-inspector G. Gopakumar said they were arrested under Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage feelings of any class by insulting religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code.
Circle Inspector V. Sugathan is conducting further investigation.