Prophet Mohammed row: Suspended BJP MLA T Raja Singh released after court order

Hyderabad: Hours after his suspension from the BJP, a city court on Tuesday returned the remand of Telangana MLA T Raja Singh. The lawmaker had been arrested earlier today and presented at Nampally Criminal Court amid tight security and high tension due to protests by his supporters and a counter-agitation those opposed to him.

It was however argued in court that proper procedure had not been followed by the police. Singh had been directly arrested, with no notice being served. Following the presentation of argments by all parties, the court had returned the remand and backed Singh's release.

Earlier reports had however suggested that the suspended BJP leader had been sent to judicial custody for 14 days for making derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad. It had also suggested that he was likely to be shifted to Chanchalguda Central Prison.

On Monday night, Singh had uploaded a video on Facebook making derogatory comments against the Prophet, triggering massive public outrage. This had in turn triggered massive protests by Muslims at various places in Hyderabad demanding strong and immediate action against him.

Police registered cases against Raja Singh at various police stations in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana. At Mangalhat police station, he was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 505 (2) (making, publishing or circulating any statement or report containing rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote feelings of enmity and hatred) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The MLA was also booked at Bahadurpura, Dabeerpura and Balanagar police stations in Hyderabad and in Sangareddy and Nizamabad districts.