Delhi Police on Sunday evening summoned The Indian Express's City Editor and Chief Reporter for its report over Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad's audio clip being doctored.
According to Indian Express, Delhi Police has emailed a notice on Sunday evening to the City Editor and Chief Reporter, requiring the reporter to join the probe Monday or face legal action under Indian Penal Code Section 174.
This comes a day after Delhi Police called the Indian Express report "totally baseless" and "factually incorrect". The Indian Express on Saturday reported that according to initial investigations by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, in the audio clip, allegedly released by Tablighi Jammat chief Maulana Saad, he asks the Tablighi Jammat members to not follow social distancing norms amid the coronavirus pandemic, maybe "doctored" and "stitched together using several audio files".
While calling the reports untrue, Delhi Police said: "The Indian Express report dated 9.5.20 with an article captioned: Tablighi FIR: Police probe indicates Saad audio clip was doctored - Written by Mahender Manral, is not only factually incorrect but seems to be based on wholly unverified sources and purely conjectural imagination," said Delhi Police.
"The claims made by the reporter regarding the investigation are totally baseless. The Delhi Police does not in any way stand by the story of the reporter, nor has he spoken to any official sources claimed in his report," they added.
The Indian Express had issued a clarification on Sunday saying they stand by the story. In its Sunday edition, Indian Express issued a clarification which read: "The report is based on a conversation with sources and officials aware of the probe against Maulana Saad. Before publication, calls were made to Special CP (Crime) Praveer Ranjan on Friday. Also, a message was sent to him seeking his comments on the key points made in the report. No response was received."
