A police complaint has been filed against All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad for his decision to provide legal assistance to the five youths arrested in the city for alleged links to the Islamic State. An advocate from Hyderabad, K Karuna Sagar, filed the complaint with Saroor Nagar Police. Officials said they were seeking legal advice and have not registered a case yet, PTI reported.

Uttar Pradesh Bar Council member Anil Kumar Bakshi had earlier filed a petition in a Meerut court, claiming Owaisi’s comments amounted to treason and advocated terrorism. Bakshi has sought cases against Owaisi for waging war against the country, sedition, and abetment. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 6.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) have also demanded that the AIMIM chief be arrested immediate. The BJP accused him of “betraying the country” by “standing with extremists” and “directly or indirectly helping the ISIS [Islamic State], which had come up with a video in which it threatened to target India”.

Owaisi, in his defence, said his offer to provide legal help to the five arrested youths was being “blown out of proportion” and that he will leave it to the courts to come to a decision. “Tomorrow, if these boys are found not guilty, who will return their life to them?” the Hyderabad MP had said, though he emphasised that his party does not support terrorism.

Of the 11 detained after raids by the National Investigation Agency on June 29, five were arrested and sent to 12-day police custody. The NIA said on Saturday that the arrested youths had “pledged allegiance” to Islamic State chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.