Ratan Lal, associate professor from Delhi University’s Hindu College, was arrested on Friday, three days after an FIR was registered against him for a social media post.
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The police said that Mr. Lal was arrested on Friday for his ‘objectionable’ post on social media over a ‘shivling’ which was reported to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said an FIR was filed against the associate professor of history, under Section 135A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295A (malicious acts to outrage religious feelings) on Wednesday.
Prof. Lal, who had received death threats on social media over his post, had described the registration of FIR against him as an “attack on free speech in academic spaces”.
A complaint was registered by an advocate Vineet Jindal on Tuesday night against the professor over a ‘deliberate and a malicious’ comment that he made on Facebook that intended to outrage religious feelings.