Hearing adjourned on police plea for Owaisi's custody

The magistrate's court in Nirmal town of Adilabad district, about 200 km from here, adjourned the hearing on the police petition to Friday.

The MIM legislator was Wednesday sent to judicial custody for 14 days and was lodged in the district jail in Adilabad.

While police sought the custody of Akbar, as he is popularly called, for seven days for questioning for his Dec 22 speech in Nirmal town, his lawyer opposed the move on the ground that police already questioned him after his arrest Tuesday.

Akbar's lawyer also filed a petition seeking special prisoner status for the legislator. The plea is likely to come up for hearing later.

A member of Andhra Pradesh state assembly, Akbar has been charged with sedition, waging war against nation, criminal conspiracy and other offences.

Meanwhile, police in Nizamabad town are likely to file a petition for prisoner transit (PT) warrant in Nirmal court to seek Akbar's custody for questioning with regard to a provocative speech he made in that town.

Police in Osmania University police station in Hyderabad are also seeking legal opinion on filing a petition for similar PT warrant. A case was booked against Akbar at the police station on the direction of a city court.

As the state high court Wednesday admitted Akbar's petition to strike down cases booked against him at various police stations in the state, the Osmania University police station is seeking legal opinion on whether it could file a petition for the warrant.

In more trouble for Akbar, a court in Ranga Reddy district issued summons, directing him to appear before it on Feb 4. The court issued the summons on a petition filed by an individual against the MIM leader for making hate speeches. Another court in Anantapur directed police to register a case against Akbar.