MP: Man slapped with NSA for posting pic wearing Pak flag T-shirt, writing anti-India slogans

The stringent National Security Act (NSA) was invoked against a 21-year-old man arrested for allegedly writing anti-India slogans and posting a "pro-Pakistan" photo on his social networking account in Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh after a complaint was lodged by a Bajrang Dal leader, police said on Monday.

Sahil Lalla was arrested on Sunday for writing anti-India slogans and posting his photo on his Instagram page clad in a T-shirt with the Pakistani flag and the word "Jordan" written on it, an officer said.

Ujjain superintendent of police Satyendra Shukla said Lalla was arrested within two hours after he put up the post around 7 pm on Sunday. The NSA was invoked against him the same day, he added.

"District Convener of right-wing Bajrang Dal, Pintu Kaushal, had lodged a complaint about the matter with the Chimanganj police. Acting on that complaint, police arrested Sahil Lalla and recommended invoking the NSA against him," Shukla said.

Lalla was also booked on charges of trying to disturb communal harmony and posing law and order problems.

On the recommendation of the police district collector clears ways for invoking the NSA, police sources said explaining the procedure.

Notably, the Ujjain district administration on Sunday invoked the NSA against four persons out of ten arrested so far for allegedly raising Pakistan Zindabad slogans during a Muharram event on August 19.

More than a dozen people had been booked for pro-Pak sloganeering and charged with sedition under sections 124 (a), and 153 (provocation which can cause riot) of the Indian Penal Code.

The National Security Act empowers the government to detain a person if authorities are satisfied that he/she is a threat to national security or to prevent him/her from disrupting public order. The act allows preventive detention for months and states or the Centre can detain people from acting in a manner prejudicial to India's security. The Act is generally invoked to maintain law and order.