Mumbai: Man held for Facebook post threatening to ‘recreate’ murder of Udaipur tailor

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested a Bandra resident for allegedly making a Facebook post threatening to ‘recreate’ the gruesome murder of the Udaipur tailor. The post was flagged by Crime Branch officers during a routine sweep of social media, which led to the arrest.

According to Crime Branch officers, the accused has been identified as Rizwan Sheikh (25), a resident of the Bandra transit camp who is in the transport business. Sheikh came under the Crime Branch’s scanner after officials of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) noticed his Facebook post, in which he said that there would be an ‘Udaipur-like incident’ if anyone said anything against Islam. A tailor was beheaded by two accused in Udaipur last month after he allegedly expressed his support to suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on social media.

The information was subsequently forwarded to the Crime Branch Unit IX, which has jurisdiction over the Bandra - Andheri belt.

“We scanned Sheikh’s Facebook page further and found that he had also made other such posts. Accordingly, we picked him up from his residence on Tuesday and brought him to the unit for inquiries, after which he was placed under arrest,” a Crime Branch officer said.

Sheikh was produced in the Esplanade Court on Wednesday, where he was remanded in police custody till July 8.