Etah (UP), Apr 1 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi, who was lodged in the district jail in Pilibhit in connection with a case pertaining to the alleged anti-Muslim remarks, was shifted to the Etah Jail late on Tuesday night for security reasons.

According to official sources, Varun was moved to avoid a law and order problem in Pilibhit.

On Tuesday, a petition was filed on behalf of Varun in the Allahabad High Court, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA).

A Lucknow Division Bench will hear the petition on Thursday.

Earlier, Varun''s mother and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi said the slapping of the NSA on him, for inciting violence, was a travesty of justice.

She termed the imposition of the NSA as a "misuse of a serious law".

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has termed the invoking of the NSA against Varun as "wrong" and misused "to settle political scores".

Yadav, however, said: "The move to frame charges under the NSA against Varun was a tactic by the BJP and the BSP to generate sympathy towards Varun. If the BJP-BSP are not having any sort of tacit understanding, then why was Varun not arrested before the roadshow," he added. (ANI)