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HomeIndiaKafeel Khan charged under NSA for comments during CAA protest in AMU

Kafeel Khan charged under NSA for comments during CAA protest in AMU

Dr Kafeel Khan, who came to limelight in the 2017 Gorakhpur infant deaths case, was arrested in January for allegedly making inflammatory remarks at AMU during a CAA protest.

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Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police has slapped the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Dr Kafeel Khan, who is in jail for allegedly delivering a speech at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) against the amended Citizenship Act.

The charges were brought Friday morning just before Dr Khan was scheduled to be released on bail.

“NSA has been slapped against Dr Kafeel Khan. He will remain in jail,” Aligarh SSP Akash Kulhari told PTI.

The NSA allows preventive detention for months if authorities are satisfied that the person is a threat to national security or law and order.

Dr Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on 29 January in connection with the speech he had delivered during an anti-CAA protest at Aligarh Muslim University on 12 December.

A case was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station in Aligarh on the charge of promoting enmity between different religions. After his arrest, Dr Khan was brought to Aligarh and then immediately shifted to the district jail in neighbouring Mathura.

This was done as a precautionary measure in view of the anti-CAA protests at the AMU campus and at Eidgah grounds in the old quarters of the city. Dr Khan’s presence in Aligarh jail could have worsened the law-and-order situation in the city, the police had said.


Also read: Arrested for comments during CAA protest, Dr Kafeel Khan says he fears encounter by UP cops


According to the doctor’s brother Adil Khan, Dr Khan was due to be released on bail on 10 February as per the Aligarh Chief Judicial Magistrate court’s orders. When Dr Khan filed a contempt of court plea after police didn’t release him, the jail administration told the court he would be released at 9am Friday morning.

Dr Khan has been booked under Section 153(A) for spreading hatred on the basis of religion, race, language etc. According to the FIR, Khan is charged with trying to provoke religious sentiments and hostility towards members of the other communities in a speech he gave AMU students on 12 December.

The FIR cites Dr Khan’s speech and accuses him of targetting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS, and speaking out against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens.

The doctor was earlier arrested for his alleged role in the death of over 60 children within an week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in August 2017. Short supply of oxygen at the children’s ward was blamed at that time for the deaths.

About two years later, a state government probe cleared Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government.

(With PTI inputs)


Also read: 2 yrs on, UP probe clears Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan of medical negligence, other charges


 

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