Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan held for hate speech

The Special Task Force of UP Police on Wednesday arrested Gorakhpur-based doctor Kafeel Khan from Mumbai for allegedly making an inflammatory speech on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 12, 2019.

According to the officials, Khan, accompanied by Swaraj India's Yogendra Yadav, tried to malign the government and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's image in his speech.

"Khan gave this speech on December 12, 2019 at the AMU. He was addressing the students. The whole incident was video recorded by Sub-Inspector Danish. The video clearly shows that how he spoke against the Indian government," UP STF chief Amitabh Yash told over phone on Thursday.

In the complaint, a copy of which is with , Sub-Inspector Danish said: "I was at the Bab-e-Syed gate of the AMU at around 9:30 p.m. along with Constable Akhilesh. Around 600 students of the varsity were gathered there".

The FIR further said that Khan and Yadav were also present among the students. Both addressed the students. Khan in his speech spoke only against the government and RSS. His speech was only provoking a fraction of students belonging to a particular community.

"Khan, who was also arrested some years ago for his alleged involvement in the suspicious deaths of children in the Gorakhpur hospital, just tried to influence the society by his speech," the FIR said.

Danish recorded this speech himself, in which Khan also pronounced the names of some communities to provoke them.

Yash said, Khan was absconding soon after the FIR was lodged. Many raids were conducted to nab him and finally he was apprehend in Mumbai on Wednesday.

It must be quoted here that Khan was also booked for children's deaths in a Gorakhpur hospital in 2017 in which many children lost their lives due to negligence.

This is the second arrest for an inflammatory speech incidents. On Monday, JNU student leader Sharjeel Imam was also arrested by the Delhi Crime Branch from Bihar's Jahanabad.

(Sanjeev Kumar Singh Chauhan can be contacted at sanjeev.c@.in)

( With inputs from IANS )