Legal Notice sent to Twitter India by UP Police

Legal Notice has been sent to the Managing Director of Twitter India, Manish Maheshwari by the police of Uttar Pradesh. He has been asked to report to a police station at Loni Border near Delhi and record his statement within seven days, news agency ANI reported on Friday. The summon has been issued for "provoking communal unrest" in the case involving an assault on a Muslim man in Ghaziabad earlier this month.

"Some people used their Twitter handle as a tool to spread hatred in the society and Twitter Communication India and Twitter Inc did not take any action against it. They let the anti-social messages go viral," the notice sent to Mr. Maheshwari read.

The man, Sufi Abdul Samad, had alleged that his beard was cut off and he was forced to chant "Vande Mataram" and "Jai Shri Ram" by a group that assaulted him. UP Police say there was nothing communal about the incident; the man was attacked by six people -- Hindus and Muslims - who were angry with him for allegedly selling fake good luck charms.

Abdul Samad's family has denied police's claims. "The police is wrong in saying that my father used to sell 'tabeez'. No one in our family does this business. We are carpenters. The police are not saying the right thing - let them investigate and prove it," said Babloo Saifi, Abdul Samad's son. 

The 72-year-old man’s family and friends have said the man’s attackers forced him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and chopped off his beard. The Uttar Pradesh Police have claimed there was no communal angle to the attack even as a Samajwadi Party leader said that the police deliberately left out the alleged communal slogan chanting from the First Information Report filed in the case.