A court in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh Wednesday issued a warrant against MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, who was sent back to jail in Adilabad district after questioning by police in a hate speech case.
Armed with a Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant, a police team from Medak left for Adilabad to take custody of the legislator. A court in Sangareddy town issued the warrant in connection with a case booked against him in 2005. The court directed police to produce him by January 18.
The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader was booked by police in Patancheru in Medak district near Hyderabad on March 16, 2005 for obstructing officials from carrying out the demolition of a place of worship to facilitate road extension at Muttangi village.
On the day that Owaisi was sent back to jail in Adilabad after four days of questioning by police in a hate speech case, a court in Nizamabad directed police to produce him on January 19 in a another hate speech case.
The court issued a PT warrant against the legislator.
Police in Adilabad district did not question the legislator for the fifth day and produced him before a magistrate in Nirmal town, about 200 km from here.
He was later sent back to the district jail in Adilabad, some 90 km from Nirmal.
A police official said they completed the questioning in four days, although the court had remanded the MIM leader to their custody for five days.
The police had arrested the MIM leader Jan 8 and the next day a Nirmal court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days for the hate speech he delivered at a public meeting in Nirmal town Dec 22.
Akbar, a member of the Andhra Pradesh assembly from Chandrayangutta constituency in the old city of Hyderabad, is facing charges of sedition, waging war against the nation and criminal conspiracy.
The munsif magistrate's court in Nirmal Wednesday passed orders, directing jail authorities to give special category prisoner status to Owaisi. He was so far being treated as an ordinary prisoner.
The court adjourned to Jan 18 hearing on a petition filed by police, seeking its permission to take Akbar's voice sample as he reportedly denied during questioning that the voice in the compact discs shown to him was his.
The voice sample is likely to be sent to a forensic laboratory in Chandigarh for audio and video authentication.
In another development, the MIM leader's lawyers filed a bail petition in the Adilabad sessions court. The petition is yet to be listed for hearing.
State Human Rights Commission Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by an individual seeking orders to police to shift Owaisi to a jail in Hyderabad in view of his illness.
The commission said the issue does not come under its purview.