India politician Owaisi remanded to judicial custody

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20954973

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A court in India's Andhra Pradesh state has remanded a prominent Muslim legislator in custody for two weeks over alleged anti-Hindu speeches.

Akbaruddin Owaisi of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul party was arrested on Tuesday.

Some of the comments were recorded in December and were posted online.

Police have charged him with threatening the security of India and with promoting hostilities between Hindus and Muslims.

The Press Trust of India news agency said that Mr Owaisi was questioned and produced before a magistrate early on Wednesday. The magistrate remanded him to judicial custody.

Mr Owaisi went to London after making the speeches to receive medical treatment for "internal pains" and returned to India on 7 January.

He was arrested on Tuesday after doctors said that hospital tests proved that there were no medical grounds to prevent police from holding him.

Correspondents say that the authorities in Andhra Pradesh have been criticised for not taking action against Mr Owaisi earlier.

In his speeches, Mr Owaisi reportedly accused police of bias against Muslims, in addition to denigrating Hindu gods. He said that Muslims could "teach the rest of the country a lesson".

Muslims comprise about 14% of India's more than one billion people.