Amravati district police in Maharashtra on Saturday registered a case against radical Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide for allegedly making offensive comments on Mahatma Gandhi, an officer said. The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged a day after the Maharashtra unit of the Congress party demanded his arrest in the Assembly.
The Rajapeth police has registered the case against Mr. Bhide under Indian Penal Code Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), the officer said.
Mr. Bhide had made these comments while addressing a gathering at Bharat Mangal Hall in the Badnera Road area of Amravati during his ongoing tour of Vidarbha.
“Sambhaji Bhide made a shameless and derogatory remark against the Father of the Nation, calculated to spread hatred and divisiveness in the society. This person must be arrested immediately. How can he roam free?” senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had said on Friday.
Mr. Bhide heads the fringe Sangli-based outfit Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, which had been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
An FIR has been registered against him and right-wing Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote, of the fringe Hindutva outfit Samasta Hindu Aghadi, for their involvement in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence of 2018.
In January 2020, Mr. Bhide, also known as ‘Guruji’, had called for a shutdown across Sangli district to condemn remarks by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut against BJP leader and former Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale.
