Man seeks arrest of Raveena, others for ”hurting” sentiments

PTI, Feb 18, 2020, 5:17 PM IST

Beed: The man who filed a complaint last year against actor Raveena Tandon, film director Farah Khan and comedian Bharti Singh for allegedly ‘hurting religious sentiments’ of Christians on a TV show, has written to Maharashtra Police, demanding that they are arrested.

The complainant, Ashish Shinde, submitted an application to state Director General of Police (DGP) on Tuesday over his demand.

Shinde, who heads a local NGO, filed a complaint in December last year at Shivaji Nagar police station in Beed city against the three film personalities under Indian Penal Code Section 295 (hurting religious sentiments).

He alleged that Tandon and others used the Biblical expression “Hallelujah” in an offensive way on Flipkart Video Original’s quiz show “Backbenchers”, which was aired on Christmas eve.

The case was later transferred to Malad police station in Mumbai under whose jurisdiction the accused life, a police official earlier said.

In his application to the DGP, Shinde said no action was taken against the accused in the case.

“Take action instantly and give direction to Beed Superintendent of Police (SP) to arrest all the accused,” he said in his plea.

“Neither the office of Beed SP nor Shivaji Nagar police station have given any information about the status of the case. So, I and our Christians community members have given an application to the DGP,” Shinde told PTI.

Beed SP Harsh Poddar said the case was earlier transferred to the relevant police station.

Asked if the Malad police station in Mumbai has returned the case file to Beed, Poddar said, “The matter has not yet come before me. If it comes up here, necessary action will be taken.”