Hate speech: Owaisi's voice recorded for forensic test

The voice of jailed Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Member of Legislative Assembly Member Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is facing sedition charges for his alleged ‘hate speech’, was on Tuesday recorded by Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory even as a local court  extended his judicial remand in the case until February 19.

Akbaruddin's voice was recorded in the court of Judicial First Class Magistrate in Nirmal town of Adilabad district by the APFSL experts and the sample will now be forwarded to CFSL Chandigarh, a senior police officer told PTI.

"Akbaruddin was made to read out a script. However, his voice was low, as he complained of ill health. It (voice sample) seemed not up to the mark when compared with the voice of his alleged hate speech given in Nirmal in December last year," the police officer said.

The voice sample will now be sent to CFSL Chandigarh and it will be matched with his voice in the video footage of that meeting, he explained.

The Nirmal police, which had arrested the MIM legislator from GandhiHospital in Hyderabad on January 8, had earlier filed a petition in the court for the test to match his voice with that on videotapes of the alleged hate speech that the MIM leader is accused of delivering on December 22 last at Nirmal.

The MLA, who represents Chandrayangutta constituency in Hyderabad, is facing charges of sedition and waging war against the nation, among others. Meanwhile, the court extended Akbaruddin's judicial remand by another 14 days.

He was booked suo moto by the Nirmal and the Nizamabad police and subsequently by OsmaniaUniversity police in Hyderabad and in different parts of Andhra Pradesh for allegedly making the inflammatory speeches against a particular community.

Akbaruddin, party's floor leader in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, is currently lodged in the Adilabad District Jail. The MIM MLA has already denied before the Nirmal and the

Nizamabad Police during his custodial interrogation that the voice in the video footages was of his.

He had allegedly delivered the hate speech in Nizamabad on December 8 last year.