A large group of people, reportedly from Shia, Sunni and Christian communities, staged a protest in front of the Old City police commissioner’s office at Purani Haveli in Hyderabad.
Shouting slogans, the protesters demanded the arrest of Aaj Tak TV journalist Rohit Sardana, alleging that his posts on Twitter were 'blasphemous'.
The group was led by Shia cleric Nisar Hussain Hyder Agha, and also demanded that the media outlet fire Rohit Sardana.
A memorandum was also submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (south zone) V Satyanarayana, who said that a case had already been registered.
Earlier this week, members of the Shia community had lodged a complaint with the Dabeerpura police station in Hyderabad, following which a case was registered against the journalist under Section 295(A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of the IPC.
Even as the protests were staged in Hyderabad, police complaints were also filed against the journalist in Mumbai.
The Times of India reported that the Naya Nagar police at Mira Road invoked sections 295A and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) of the IPC, besides Section 67 of the IT Act.
The tweet from Sardana, that has triggered outrage, seems to have been posted on November 16.
In context of the film Sexy Durga, with which the Kerala High Court sided, Sardana referred to women in Islam and Christianity including Prophet Muhammad's wife Ayesha, daughter Fatima and Mary, Jesus Christ's mother.
He asked why the title of 'Sexy' was only put after a Hindu goddess, and asked if the same could be done for the other names as well.
अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी- फ़िल्मों के नाम सेक्सी दुर्गा, सेक्सी राधा रखने में ही है क्या? क्या आपने कभी सेक्सी फ़ातिमा, सेक्सी आएशा या सेक्सी मेरी जैसे नाम सुने हैं फ़िल्मों के? https://t.co/OkMFNz0AQE
— Rohit Sardana (@sardanarohit) November 16, 2017
The journalist has alleged that he has been receiving several calls from unknown numbers, who are threatening and intimidating him.
He took to Twitter, to post screenshots of the anonymous numbers, and asked the Uttar Pradesh police to take action