A man here Wednesday slapped a Muslim cleric while he was being taken to a court after his arrest for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of a community by making objectionable comments about ‘Navratri’, police said.
“A man identified as Rakesh today slapped and pushed Imam Mehadi Hasan just outside the court when police were taking the Imam to produce him before the judicial magistrate at Thasra in Kheda district,” a police officer said.
The man has been detained, he said. Hasan did not sustain any injury in the incident, police said.
Later, Principal Civil Judge PV Bhatt sent Hasan to 14 days’ judicial custody as he stated that he would not hire an advocate to defend himself and also refused to seek bail.
The cleric had recently sparked controversy as he reportedly termed the state’s most popular festival ‘Navratri’ as “a festival of demons”.