Police arrest Indian editor over Charlie Hebdo

Mumbai - Police on Thursday arrested and bailed the editor of an Urdu-language newspaper in Mumbai for reprinting a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad from satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Shirin Dalvi, the editor of the Mumbai edition of the daily Avadhnama newspaper, was arrested by police in the town of Mumbra, close close to the financial capital.

She was arrested under sections of the Indian penal code, which bans malicious and deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

The Indian Express said several readers approached the police after the newspaper reprinted the Charlie Hebdo cover image, which was published after gunmen stormed the magazine's offices in Paris on 7 January and killed 12 people.

Tens of thousands across Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir, Afghanistan and Pakistan last week took to the streets to protest against Charlie Hebdo's cartoon portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.

Images of the prophet are considered blasphemous by many Muslims and the magazine's publishing of the cartoon has triggered protests in Muslim countries around the world.