Officers from the cyber crime police station of Mumbai crime branch arrested the person who allegedly sent threatening emails to noted lyricist Javed Akhtar on May 12. He was picked up from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) on Monday.    

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The arrested person has been identified as Anis-ul-Islam Abdul Kalam. He hails from Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh and was working as a receptionist with a private company in the hospitality sector in New Delhi.

According to the police, a few months ago, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband had issued a fatwa (religious edict) saying it was un-Islamic for women to work in offices in proximity with men and decreed that acceptance of their earnings by a family was against the Sharia.  

Akhtar had participated in a debate organised by a private TV channel on May 11 regarding the issue. He had reportedly called a Muslim cleric ‘insane’ for the fatwa against working women. The next day, Akhtar received an email from aneesul@yahoo.com threatening Akhtar for giving anti-Islam comments. Following this, Akhtar lodged a complaint with the police on May 15.   

“Investigations revealed that the said email was accessed from two addresses in New Delhi. The first address was MS South Asia Hospitality Services Pvt. Ltd, fourth floor, Power House and the second was Chaudhary Cyber Cafe, first floor, Humayunpur, SD Enclave. It was also revealed that the first address from where the email was sent was Kalam’s workplace,” said Deven Bharti, additional commissioner of police, crime.   

Police teams were dispatched to New Delhi, Kanpur and Jalaun to nab Kalam, but he managed to evade his arrest. “The police then kept tracking Kalam’s mobile phone and learnt that he would be coming to CST on July 19. Accordingly, a trap was laid and he was arrested,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner, crime.