Police should not test our patience, arrest Kamra soon: Maharashtra minister

Pune, Mar 27 (PTI) Maharashtra tourism minister and Shiv Sena leader Shambhuraj Desai on Thursday said the police should arrest comedian Kunal Kamra at the earliest and not test the patience of party workers.

Angered by the stand-up comedian's parody song targeting Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde, Sena workers on Sunday night vandalised a studio in Mumbai where Kamra's show had been recorded.

"We have been asked by Shinde to observe restraint, that is why we are quiet. As Shiv Sena workers, we know how to drag him out from wherever he is hiding, but as ministers we have some restrictions," Desai told reporters.

"We want to tell the police, do not test our patience and nab him from wherever he is, put him in a tyre and give him 'prasad'," the Sena leader added.

In Marathi, the word `prasad' means an offering made to God, but it is also used as a euphemism for punishment.

Kamra during his latest show sang a parody of a hit song from the film "Dil Toh Pagal Hai" where he used the word "gaddar" (traitor), apparently referring to Shinde.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders and its mouthpiece `Saamana' often call Shinde and his supporters, who rebelled against party chief Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 and split the Shiv Sena, as traitors.

On Sunday night, activists of the Shiv Sena led by Shinde damaged the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai's Khar area.

While some persons were arrested for the act and later got bail, the Khar police subsquently registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Kamra on a complaint of Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Shinde. Police has asked him to join the probe. PTI

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