Police issue third summons to Kunal Kamra over remarks on Eknath Shinde

Mumbai: Police on Tuesday issued a third summons to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra and asked him to appear before them on April 5 in a case filed for allegedly making derogatory remarks on Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde at a show in Mumbai. 

Kamra has been asked to appear before officials of the Khar Police Station in suburban Mumbai, where the first FIR against him was registered last month, reported PTI.

The 36-year-old comedian was summoned two times earlier by the police, but he failed to appear before them and joined the investigation.

The case stems from caustic remarks Kamra made against Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, at a show organised at a studio in the metropolis. Angered by the comments, workers of the Shiv Sena vandalised the studio late last month.

The police have filed the case against Kamra under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to defamation and public mischief. The case was filed after the comedian last month posted a video where he sang a parody song targeting Shinde with a 'traitor' jibe without naming him, but ostensibly referring to his 2022 rebellion against then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

On Monday, an official said a Khar police team went to his house in Mumbai's Mahim area, where his family lives, to check whether or not he would appear in connection with the case. Kamra also faces separate FIRs in other police stations in Mumbai and adjoining Thane, the political turf of Shinde.