Hyderabad, Feb 26 (IANS) Two men N. Innaiah and Subba Rao were Friday arrested in Andhra Pradesh’s Khammam town for helping an author in writing a book that reportedly hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims, police said.
Police Thursday arrested Macha Laxmaiah alias Krantikar, author of “Crescent over the world - is a boon or the silent Holocaust” containing blasphemous comments about Islam, the Prophet and the Quran.

A case was booked against him for hurting the religious sentiments of the community.

The arrests followed massive protests by Muslims in Khammam, around 250 km from Hyderabad. They took out a rally, demanding action against the author and those who helped him.

Muslims alleged that the book contained articles from banned books “Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie and “Lajja” by Tasleema Nasreen, along with a blasphemous cartoon published in a Danish magazine.

Police said they seized 380 books of the first volume and 410 books of the second volume of the publication in different parts of Khammam district.

Khammam superintendent of police Anil Kumar said efforts were being made to seize all books despatched to other areas.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah told the state assembly that the police arrested the author and seized the books. He said stern action would be taken against anyone disrupting peace and communal harmony of the state.

His assurance came after Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) raised the issue and demanded action against the guilty.

Police sounded an alert in Hyderabad, Khammam and other places to prevent any untoward incident. Additional police forces were deployed in the old city of Hyderabad where ‘imams’ or clerics, during their Friday sermons, condemned the author and those who supported him.