Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair’s laptop arrested, hard drives seized by cops

Mohammed Zubair was brought to Delhi for questioning.

New Delhi:

A four-member Delhi police team on Thursday seized a laptop and hard drives belonging to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair from his residence in Bengaluru, officials said.

Mr Zubair was arrested on Monday for allegedly hurting the religious feelings of Hindus with a “reprehensible” tweet he posted in 2018. On Tuesday, a Delhi court extended his interrogation in custody for another four days.

The Delhi Police team reached Mr Zubair’s residence in RT Nagar area of ​​Bengaluru around 11.30am and collected electronic evidence including his laptop and hard drives, a senior police officer said .

Mr Zubair has been flown back to Delhi where he will be questioned further about the case, he said.

On Wednesday, police had written to several banks seeking information about Mr Zubair’s account details and other financial dealings.

The officer also said the mobile phone used by the co-founder of the fact-checking website had been formatted and contained no information related to the case.

Police say Zubair said he lost the phone that was allegedly used to post the objectionable tweet.

Meanwhile, the anonymous Twitter account that reported the tweet and filed a complaint no longer exists on the microblogging site, Delhi police sources said.

Mr. Zubair was convicted under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code, according to police.

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