Hyderabad seer banished for 6 months
Hyderabad, July 11 : Hyderabad Police on Wednesday banished a Hindu religious leader from the city for six months for allegedly making provocative statements against other communities.
Sri Peetham Swami Paripoornananda, who was under house arrest for the last two days, was picked up by police early on Wednesday and was taken out of the city.
Sources said he would be dropped at his ashram in Kakinada town in Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar issued the order under Telangana Prevention of Anti-Social and Hazardous Activities Act, 1980.
The move came two days after Telangana Police banished film critic Kathi Mahesh from Hyderabad for six months for hurting religious sentiments of Hindus through his alleged derogatory comments on Lord Ram and Sita.
The same day police had placed Swami Paripoornanda, who was staying at a real-estate businessman's house in posh Jubliee Hills, under house arrest as he had planned to launch a 'Darmika Chaitanya Yatra' to protest against Mahesh's comments.
The seer had announced the three-day yatra from the Shiva Temple in Bodduppal on the outskirts of Hyderabad to Yadadri.
Several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including former Union Minister and MP Bandaru Dattatreya and local legislator Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, had called on him on Tuesday.
Leaders of BJP, Vishva Hindu Parishad and other organisations had taken exception to the police action.
Police said the Swami, who started an organisation 'Rashtriya Hindu Sena' in November 2017, made provocative remarks at several meetings in Telangana.
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Two FIRs lodged against Mithun Chakraborty for 'provocative' speech
Kolkata, Nov 6: Two FIRs have been lodged against actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty for allegedly making provocative statements during a BJP event in Salt Lake area near Kolkata last month, police said on Wednesday.
The complaints pertain to Chakraborty's speech on October 27 at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) in Salt Lake, during a BJP programme attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Kolkata to launch the party's West Bengal membership drive.
The first FIR was filed at the Bidhannagar South police station based on a complaint by an individual, while the second was lodged at Bowbazar police station.
"We have started an investigation into the case," a senior officer of Bidhannagar police said.
Shah was also present at the programme, which was organised to kick off the West Bengal leg of the BJP's membership drive. Shah had also felicitated Chakraborty for being honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year.
Although Chakraborty was unavailable for comment, BJP state president and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar described the FIRs a result of "vendetta politics.".
Majumdar alleged that the TMC government "has once again used the police to unfairly target well-known actor and senior BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty".
He accused the chief minister of employing such tactics "to serve political interests" and claimed that the state government's actions were part of an ongoing attempt to discredit political opponents.
"There is nothing provocative in his speech. These are nothing but attempts to intimidate him by using police as a political tool," he said.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh dubbed the BJP's allegations as baseless.
"The allegations of political vendetta are baseless. He shouldn't have made such provocative remarks. The law will take its own course," he said.
Chakraborty, who received India's highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, earlier this year, had asserted on October 27 that the 'masnad' (throne) of West Bengal would belong to the BJP after the 2026 assembly elections, promising to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal.
While speaking at the programme, Chakraborty, a BJP leader, said, "In 2026, the 'masnad' will be ours, and we will do everything to achieve the goal."
In an apparent reference to TMC MLA Humayun Kabir's communal remarks aimed at BJP workers during the Lok Sabha elections, Chakraborty had allegedly made provocative remarks.
Chakraborty cautioned that no one should attempt to intimidate saffron party voters into abstaining from voting in the next assembly elections.
He called upon the booth-level workers of his party to resist any such attempts.
