Mumbai: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started to demolish unauthorised structures at the Habitat Comedy Club in Khar, Mumbai. This is the location where stand up comedian Kunal Kamra recorded a show in which he called Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde (without naming him) a Gaddar (traitor).
On Sunday evening, Shinde supporters turned up at the Club en masse and vandalised it, following which 12 of them have been arrested.
The incident has turned into a political slugfest with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis saying that Kamra should apologise for his comments. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray have stood by the comedian and maintained that there is nothing wrong in calling a traitor a traitor.
In his show, Kamra had used his own version of a popular song from the film Dol To Paagal Hai to state how a bearded, spectacles, auto rickshaw driver from Thane first broke the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the state and then went on to create a split in the Shiv Sena itself, before tying up with the BJP once again. Shinde did drive an auto rickshaw in Thane before joining politics.
On Monday, an FIR was tegistered against 19 individuals, including Rahul Kanal, general secretary of Shiv Sena Yuva Sena (Shinde faction), for allegedly vandalising the comedy set. Kanal was later taken into custody.
They were presented before a Bandra court. An FIR has also been lodged against 15-20 unidentified persoms in this matter and a few more arrests are expected.
The accused have been booked under multiple Sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including Sections 132, 189(2), 189(3), 190, 191(2), 324(5), 324(6), 223, 351(2), 352, 333, 37(1), and 135.
A case has also been registered at the Khar Police Station against against Kamra for making derogatory remarks.
The police have said that Shinde’s supporters barged into the Club when another performance was going on and vandalised the set. The Club, on Monday, announced that it was downing shutters for the time being. The Club management also made it clear that it has nothing to do with the content used by artists during their performances. Incidentally, the controversial episode of India’s Got Latent was also shot at this Club.
Meanwhile, the MIDC police have also registered a case against Kamra under multiple Sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges of public mischief and defamation. Investigations are underway.
