Trouble has been mounting for controversial Tamil YouTuber Maridhas as a fresh arrest has been made against him, days after the Madras High Court has repealed an FIR that was filed against him. The latest arrest was in connection to his video in which he blamed the Muslim community for the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Maridhas is an apparent supporter of the BJP and the development has come when the right-wing followers and leaders have been protesting against the DMK government and the police for apprehending him. 

According to reports, Maridhas, who is already in jail, has been arrested on Thursday in the third case, which relates to the video that he made in 2020. In his case, Maridhas's arrest has come a year after the FIR was filed. In April 2020, Maridhas was booked by the Tirunelveli police under charges of stoking communal sentiment based on a complaint against his videos about the Covid-19 pandemic and its spread. He alleged that the viral infection was being deliberately spread by Muslim terrorists to murder innocents across the world. 

The first two cases are - an FIR for Maridhas's tweet alleging that Tamil Nadu is turning into another Kashmir under DMK rule, and a case filed by News 18 media group after Maridhas accused the journalists of News 18 of anti-Hindu reporting. The media has also accused Maridhas of faking an email and claiming it to be from the group. While the Madras High Court had repealed the first case against him after he was arrested, he is facing charges of the second case, and now he is again arrested in the case, that was filed last year. 

He is currently been lodged in Puzhal prison in Chennai and facing charges in the case filed by the media group and the latest arrest is made by the Tirunelveli police for his video in 2020. In his video, he went on to claim that a Tablighi Jamaat meeting held in Delhi in March 2020 was the reason for the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. He further called Tablighi Jamaat a new form of terrorism. The Melapalayam police in Tirunelveli has booked Maridhas last year based on the complaint from Mohammed Kadhar Meeran, a functionary of the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. 

In view of the third case, the police officials had said that Maridhas will be brought to Tirunelveli and will be produced before the Tirunelveli district court. Maridhas was booked under sections 292A -printing grossly indecent or scurrilous matter or matter intended for blackmail, 295A - deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, 505 (2) - statements conducted to public mischief with intent to cause fear of the IPC and section 67 of the Information Technology Act. 

Maridhas was first arrested by Madurai city police on December 9 for his tweet of likening Tamil Nadu to Kashmir under the DMK rule. His tweet, which was later deleted, has come after the demise of Army General Bipin Rawat in the chopper crash in Tamil Nadu and said, "Is TN turning into another Kashmir under the DMK regime?". Though this case was quashed, Maridhas is currently serving judicial custody till December 27 for the case filed by the media group and the reports say that his incarceration would increase in light of the third case.