More violence ahead of ‘Padmaavat’ release
With Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Padmaavat’ to be released tomorrow, protests led by Rajput communities and other fringe outfits took a violent form in various parts of the country.
Violence stirred in Haryana’s Gurugram as protestors restricted the movement of vehicles across the road and also torched a bus and pelted stones at Sohna Road.
The protestors vowed to block the film in defiance of the Supreme Court orders.
Earlier in the day, a group of protestors blocked the Gurugram-Wazirpur-Pataudi road in protest.
Security has been tightened in the wake of the protests.
Clubs and bars in Gurugram have been ordered to be closed from 7 pm on Wednesday till further order in the light of protests and actions is taken against the defaulters.
Meanwhile, stones were pelted at the PVS mall in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut allegedly in protest against the film.
The police were deployed on the spot and an investigation is underway.
“Eight to 10 masked men had come to pelt stones at PVS mall. Police are on the lookout for the men. We will provide security to the mall at the time of screening of the film,” Chakrapani Tripathi, Circle Officer (CO), Meerut told ANI.
Moreover, unidentified men vandalised the ticket counter of Indira Theater in Jammu where the film was released on Wednesday.
“The protesters raised slogans against the movie,” an eyewitness told ANI.
In Bhopal, a vehicle was set ablaze against the release of the film.
“The police have avoided several unlawful acts to an extent. We have been working together all-day long. It is quite ambiguous whether the vehicle is being torched or set ablaze during the protest. We have detained four people. We will investigate into the matter to identify which political group was involved in the act,” Dharam Veer Yadav, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) told ANI.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria appealed the protesters to protest peacefully over the release of the controversial film.
Talking to reporters here, Kataria said, “We have appealed protesters that if they want to protest while being within the framework of law and order, they can go ahead with it.”
He said that maintaining law and order in the state is his duty and would not allow anyone to disrupt it.
“Rajasthan government along with four other states had moved the Supreme Court against film Padmavaat but their petitions were rejected,” he added.
The Ahmedabad Police arrested 48 people from various locations under the act of rioting for unleashing violence in the city on Wednesday.
At least 15 people were arrested in connection with the violent protest against the release of the film in Maharashtra’s Pune as well.
An FIR was registered on Wednesday in this connection.
In some states, including Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and Haryana, the members of Karni Sena have resorted to burning posters and vandalising the ticket counter of the movie theatres.