Telangana MLA Raja Singh, whose remarks against Prophet Mohammed have triggered protests in Hyderabad, was arrested for a second time in two days on Thursday, August 25. The Hyderabad police have invoked the Preventive Detention Act against Raja Singh. Earlier, Congress and AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) had both demanded that the PD Act be invoked against the legislator for repeated instances of provocative remarks. According to Hyderabad police records, out of 101 criminal cases registered against Raja Singh since 2004 in different police stations in the city, 18 were communal offences, a press note issued on Thursday said. The Mangalhat police executed the PD order and he is being lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison in Hyderabad.
Raja Singh was arrested earlier on Tuesday, August 23, after being booked for making remarks against Prophet Mohammed. However, the 14th additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) court in Hyderabad granted him bail the same day. His arrest on Thursday came after the Telangana police moved the High Court challenging Tuesday’s bail order given by the local court. The 14th ACMM court had on Tuesday night accepted Raja Singh’s counsel’s submission that the police had not issued notice to the accused, as stipulated under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). On Thursday, however, Raja Singh said he had received two such notices, dated August 24. The High Court is expected to hear the Telangana police’s plea on Friday, August 26.
On Thursday, the controversial MLA had released another video in which he alleged that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was planning to arrest him in connection with a few old cases. "I would like to tell Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that I’m not afraid of bullets, the noose or being jailed. This is a dharma yuddh (war for dharma). We cannot tolerate if someone abuses our god. And those enemies who challenge our religion, they will get a response in the language that they understand, not just from Raja Singh, but from every Hindu in India,” he said. The Goshamahal legislator was served notices by the Hyderabad police on Thursday under Section 41A of the CrPC in two separate cases, pertaining to a provocative song played during a Ram Navami procession in April, and for threatening voters in Uttar Pradesh who didn’t vote for the BJP in February.
Raja Singh's earlier arrest was made in the backdrop of his controversial statements against Prophet Mohammed. In a video uploaded on YouTube, Raja Singh also made disparaging remarks against comedian Munawar Faruqui, who performed in Hyderabad recently despite the Goshamahal legislator’s threats to burn the venue down.
While the video was later taken down by YouTube, his comments against Prophet Mohammed sparked protests in Hyderabad on Tuesday night, continuing on Wednesday after his release on bail. Police had resorted to severe lathi-charge in some neighbourhoods and had taken several people into custody. Over 90 young men were released from the Kanchanbagh police station following intervention by the AIMIM.
Watch: Arrest Raja Singh, he wants Hyderabad to go up in flames: Owaisi to TNM