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The Hyderabad police on Friday took a YouTuber into custody for hate speech upon his arrival at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) from Dubai. Officers from Hyderabad’s Central Crime Station arrested Abu Faial on charges of posting videos that were communal in nature. Abu Faisal runs a YouTube channel Abu Faisal Dhamaka where he shares his views on news events. The local from Barkas was residing in Dubai when he was booked in May 2020 for a video.
In the video, Faisal made unscientific claims about the coronavirus and urged Muslims not to take the coronavirus vaccine. The YouTuber had also claimed that the vaccines were a means of population control, and he claimed to have gotten the information through ‘groups linked to cow protection’. The video was subsequently taken down after a petition was filed in the Bombay High Court.
A person identified as Imran Khan had petitioned the court, and said that the videos by Abu Faisal were a form of hate speech on social media. A request was also made to permanently remove the YouTuber from all social media platforms, the Times of India reported.
The Hyderabad cyber crime police had booked a suo moto case against him in May 2020 for the video under Section 153(A) (promoting disharmony, enmity or feelings of hatred between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act. A lookout notice was issued on June 4, 2020, after he released another video with similar content.
Officials at the Bureau of Immigration at RGIA detained Abu Faisal upon arrival. The CCS police, after taking him into custody, produced him before the Nampally court the same day. Joint Commissioner of Police (Detective Department) Avinash Mohanty told TNM that there was an arrest warrant pending against Abu Faisal, “He was produced before the court on Friday and sent to 14 days in judicial remand,” the senior official said.