Actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel reached Bandra police station at around 1.30pm on Friday to record their statement in connection with the case filed against them where both were booked for objectionable comments on social media aimed at spreading communal tension. Their advocate Rizwan Siddiqui was also accompanying them, said a police officer.
Earlier, Bandra police had sent three summons to the sisters between October and November last year but they did not appear. Ranaut later approached the Bombay high court which asked her to be present at Bandra police station on January 8 between 12 and 2pm along with her sister.
The Bandra police have prepared a list of questions related to the matter. All her tweets and video statements have been put on paper based on which questions will be put to her, added the official cited above.
On October 16 last year, a Bandra court had ordered the police to investigate a complaint filed by Bollywood casting director and fitness trainer Munawwar Ali Sayyed referring to tweets and other statements of Ranaut and her sister.
Following the order, Bandra police on October 17, 2020, booked the sisters under sections 124(A) (sedition – to bring or attempt to bring into hatred or contempt, or excite or attempt to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise), 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, race, place of birth, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295(A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class, by insulting it’s religion or religious beliefs) along with section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
In his complaint to the court, Sayyed had alleged that Ranaut has, through her tweets and television interviews, continuously defamed Hindi film industry by portraying Bollywood as a hub of nepotism, favouritism, drug addicts, communally biased and murderers etc.
Sayyed alleged that this has “even created bad image of Bollywood in the minds of people and created a communal divide and rift between people of two communities.” His complaint added that Ranaut has been “maliciously bringing religion in all her tweets”. The casting director alleged that Ranaut’s sister Rangoli, who also works as her manager, has also tweeted highly objectionable messages, intended to create communal rift.
