Mumbai police officers arrived at comedian Kunal Kamra's residence on Monday as controversy grew over his jokes about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Kamra was summoned for questioning at the Khar police station in connection with his controversial jokes at Mumbai's Habitat Centre, but failed to appear.
Police had earlier sent two summons to Kamra after registering a First Information Report (FIR) on March 24 based on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel.
Three separate cases have been filed against Kamra at Khar police station. One complaint was lodged by the Mayor of Jalgaon city, while the other two were filed by a hotelier and a businessman from Nashik, according to Mumbai police.
In an episode released on March 23, Kunal Kamra used a parody version of a song from the 1997 film Dil Toh Pagal Hai targeting Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The act drew backlash, with Shiv Sena workers vandalising the venue. Days later, the BMC began demolishing parts of the Habitat studio.
Soon after the incident, Kamra said that he would not apologise for his comments about Shinde and criticised the vandalism of the venue where his comedy show was recorded. "I will not apologise... I don't fear this mob & I will not be hiding under my bed, waiting for this to die down," Kamra wrote in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court on Friday granted interim anticipatory bail to Kamra in connection with the FIRs. "The bail is granted with conditions and will remain in effect until April 7," Justice Sunder Mohan said.
Kamra had approached the court seeking transit anticipatory bail. He cited multiple threats received after his recent satirical comments.
