Non-cognisable offence lodged against man in Indore over video projecting BJP leader Vijayvargiya as 'Ravan'

Indore: Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, police have registered a non-cognisable offence report (NCR) against a man in Indore over a video purportedly projecting BJP candidate Kailash Vijayvargiya as Lanka king Ravan and his Congress rival Sanjay Shukla as Lord Ram, an official said on Thursday.

Vijayvargiya and Shukla are contesting the November 17 state polls from Indore-1 assembly seat.

BJP legal cell's Indore-1 assembly seat in-charge Harshal Singh Raghuvanshi lodged a complaint at the Aerodrome police station that a person named Rakesh shared a controversial video on Dussehra (October 24) in a WhatsApp group, the police official said. In the video, depicting a Ram-Ravan battle scene in a television serial, the pictures of Vijayvargiya and Shukla were super-imposed on the faces of those enacting Lanka king Ravan and Lord Ram, respectively, he said. In connection with the video, a NCR has been registered against a person named Rakesh under Indian Penal Code Sections 298 (uttering words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and 500 (punishment for defamation), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Aditya Mishra told PTI. Citing legal provisions, he said that after registration of the NCR by police, if a complainant wants, he can file a suit in a court at the personal level.

The complainant, Raghuvanshi, said appropriate legal steps would be taken in connection with the controversial video released at the time of the poll campaign.