THE editor of a magazine being published under the banner of a news channel has been arrested for reprinting the controversial cartoons of Prophet Mohammad. The cartoons, which first appeared in a Danish newspaper last September, have caused outrage among Muslims and led to violent protests in many countries.
However, Vijay Dixit, group chairman of Senior Media Ltd, said the cartoons were merely part of an article by Senior India editor Alok Tomar which set out to criticise the Danish cartoons.
The February 28 edition of Senior India had already reached Delhi newsstands and police had to rush to seize copies of the magazine today before matters got out of hand. Senior officers have told police in other states to seize copies of the magazine.
Dixit said: “Our purpose was not to publish the cartoons to make fun of the Prophet. Alok Tomar had written an article denouncing the publishing of the cartoon strip. His only fault was that he published the controversial cartoon strip too.”
Delhi Police carried out a raid to verify if the magazine had published the cartoons after receiving a tip-off. Senior policemen questioned Senior India employees at their Defence Colony office.
The police team found several copies of the latest edition in the office. They registered a case and picked up Tomar for questioning.
“Hundreds of magazines were seized from stands. We have registered a case and arrested Tomar,” a senior police officer said.
Police said they had seen the cartoons and would check if they were the same ones that appeared in Denmark last September.