SURAT: A man identified as maulvi Abdul Rahim Rathod (54) was arrested on Sunday for circulating a pamphlet titled ‘Method of animal sacrifice’ on social media in Bharuch. The arrest of Rahtod comes on the eve of Eid-ul-Adha or Bakra Eid.

A case was registered against Rathod at Amod police station. He was charged with promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, outraging religious feelings of a class under Indian Penal Code sections 153(a), 295(a), 298, 505(2) and section 66(d) of Information Technology (IT) Act. Considering the sensitivity of the case, the probe was handed over to the Bharuch Special Operation Group (SOG).

According to the police, the pamphlet circulated by Rathod was titled ‘Kurbani no Tariko’ (method of animal sacrifice). It described the method of sacrificing animals like camel, buffalo or cow. The pamphlet also had the name of an Amod-based religious organization Darul Uloom Barkat-E-Khwaja on it.

“The pamphlet described the rituals to follow for animal sacrifice. It was offensive as the list of animals that could be sacrificed included cow,” said a police official.

“After the post went viral, Amod police and the cyber crime police traced the person. During questioning, Rathod confessed to circulating the pamphlet on social media. Some people had helped him in making the pamphlet. We will soon call them for investigation,” added the cop.

According to police, Rathod has a criminal history.

In the past, he had been booked for religious conversation and atrocity by Bharuch police. A chargesheet was also filed against Rathod in the religious conversation case.

Meanwhile, Bharuch police have requested people not to circulate posts that hurt the religious sentiments of people of any faith.