Delhi police arrest Muslim journalist over Twitter post

Indian police on Monday arrested the co-founder of a top fact-checking website who has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, his colleague said.

Mohammed Zubair was arrested in Delhi after being called in for questioning in an earlier case, said Pratik Sinha, who runs the Alt-News website together with Zubair.

Sinha said in a post on Twitter that his colleague was arrested illegally and without warning and was being held by police in Delhi.

Zubair has been one of the fiercest critics of Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and has frequently called out hate speech by Hindu fringe groups on the Internet.

He has faced several legal cases over the years which his supporters dismiss as politically motivated attempts to silence a critic.

Some local media reports linked Zubair’s arrest Monday to the recent controversy over incendiary remarks about Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his progeny, made by a BJP spokesperson, which sparked widespread global protests and outrage from the Islamic world.