A man in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr was charged under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly “misusing” his bail and trying to disrupt public order, a news agency PTI report said, citing a senior police official.
The accused, Imran, from Bulandshahr’s Shikarpur area was in the first place arrested for allegedly posting a video of him burning the Quran in September last year. Police said the video went viral online and across social media, disturbing the public order.
However, after getting bail in the matter, Imran again posted a video saying that he set the religious book on fire because of “pressure from people of other religions”, the PTI report added.
Police said that following this, Imran was charged with violating the National Security Act (NSA) was slapped against Imran on January 16.
Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shlok Kumar told PTI, “The first video, which he uploaded on social media, significantly disturbed the public order. And, then after coming out from jail after two months, he posted another video.”
“He misused the bail granted to him and again tried to disturb public order, following which the NSA was imposed on him,” he added.
Notably, the National Security Act, 1980, allows the government to detain people for up to 12 months without charging them.
In August 2024, the Ghaziabad police was contemplating action under NSA against Pinky Chaudhary, the chief of right-wing outfit Hindu Raksha Dal, after he and his supporters allegedly assaulted families of Muslim workers and damaged their shanties near the Guldhar railway station.
Members of the Dal had at the time alleged that the victims were Bangladeshi nationals.
Further back in April, the Punjab government had re-invoked the NSA against radical Sikh leader and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh and his nine associates.
The Punjab Police had kept fresh grounds of keeping Amritpal and his aides in detention before the board that looks after NSA cases.
“The fresh grounds (to impose NSA) include threat to national security because of continuous activism related to release of the prisoners that may disturb the peace of Punjab and the fresh intelligence inputs about activities of these detainees,” the Punjab government official said.
Amritpal and his nine aides had all either completed one year or were about to complete the maximum period for which detention is allowed.
(With PTI inputs)