Allahbadia row: Mumbai Police record statements of manager, Apoorva

Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) The Mumbai Police on Wednesday recorded the statements of four persons including social media influencer Apoorva Mukhija in connection with the controversial comments made by Ranveer Allahbadia on YouTube show "India's Got Latent".

The statements of the four including Mukhija and Allahbadia's manager -- but not Allahbadia himself -- were recorded, said an official of the Khar police station. Mukhija was part of the reality show.

The Maharashtra Cyber Department had on Tuesday registered a First Information Report against the show.

Nilotpal Mrinal Pandey, a functionary of the Maharashtra BJP's Uttar Bhartiya Morcha, had on Monday filed a complaint against Allahbadia and others after the controversy broke.

If the police did not register a FIR against Allahbadia and other participants of the show, he would move the court, he told reporters on Wednesday.

Pandey also claimed that offensive language was used about disabled persons on the reality show. He himself is disabled, and action should be taken against the participants of the show in this regard too, he said.

Ranveer Allahbadia, who has over 16 million followers across social media platforms, landed in the soup after a video of his controversial comments started making the rounds on social media and led to a massive debate on freedom of speech and what constitutes decency.

He tried to defuse the situation by issuing a video apology where he called his comment a "lapse in judgement" but the issue has refused to die down.

The issue was raised in parliament by Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske ho called for a law to regulate the social media.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday asked Allahabadia, Samay Raina, Apoorva Makhija, Jaspreet Singh and Ashish Chanchlani as well as the show's producers Tushar Poojari and Saurabh Bothra to appear before it on February 17 in New Delhi. PTI