Mumbai:
The police of Mumbai and Guwahati went looking for Ranveer Allahbadia, aka 'The Beerbiceps Guy', on Friday – the podcaster that is confronted with accusations of obscenity and offensive public morality, and is being taken under fire for gross comments while appearing in a one Episode of 'India's Got Latent', a stand-up comedy show.
But he could not be found in his residence in Mumbai; The apartment was locked.
A police officer said PTI that Mumbai's law enforcement had initiated an investigation and went to the apartment, in the Versova district in the city, to interrogate him.
On Thursday, Allahbadia was asked to report to the police station in the Khar in Mumbai to record his statement. However, he later asked that this would be done at his home.
That request was refused. And after he had not appeared, the police issued a second summons and then landed at his house, in which journey they were accompanied by colleagues from Guwahati.
The Assam police wanted to question Allahbadia in a case that was submitted by a city dweller, who had accused the podcaster of promoting obscene content on an online platform that was available to everyone.
Faced with the locked door, both police teams returned to Khar's police station.
Although Allahbadia was not available for interrogation, his legal representative – ABHINAV Chandrachud, the son of former Chief Justice Dy Chandrachud – approached the Supreme Court to seek exemption from the many things; Allahbadia has asked to bump it.
Read | Ranveer Allahbadia goes to the Supreme Court over several FIRs
An early hearing was asked, but supreme judge Sanjiv Khanna said 'no', which indicates that a date was already assigned. He also sought anticipatory bail – to ward off the Guwahati police.
The Guwahati case was submitted on Monday and also mentions Samay Raina, the stand-up strip that organizes the 'India's Got Latent' show. Raina was also called by the Mumbai police and the cyber department of Maharashtra, which carries out an independent investigation. He was told to appear within five days, but asked for more time and stated that he is currently in the United States.
Read | Comedian Samay Raina called again, but says he is in us
Until now, the Mumbai police (ie the Khar police), who act on a complaint from a BJP officer, have recorded the statements of seven people; These include Apoorva Makhija, a YouTube personality that was in the show, and Ashish Chanchalani, a different social media influencer.
So far, however, no case has been submitted.
The explanation of one pratham Sagar, the video editor of the show, is also recorded.
In the meantime, the cyber department has called at least 50 people so far. This includes movie personality Raghu Ram, who was one of the jury members in the episode in question.
Allahbadia apologizes
After the row broke, Allahbadia offered himself an apology and gave an opinion on.
“My comment was not only inappropriate … It wasn't even funny. Comedy is not my strength, I'm just here to say sorry,” he said in a video message. The podcaster said this was not how he wanted to use his platform. “I am not going to give context or justification or reasoning behind what happened. I am just here for an apology. I personally had a judgment in my opinion. It was not cool on my part,” he said.
Parliament, NCW involved
The apology failed to put the tide of criticism, which even included sharp comments from MPs.
Read | Ranveer Allahbadia is confronted with the summons of parliament above coarse comments
The parliamentary panel on information and communication technology has asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcast to submit a detailed comment on the issue on 17 February.
Read | Women's Body Ranveer Allahbadia about Gross Remark
Allahbadia and others were also called by the National Commission for Women, who stated his comment the dignity and respect that owed to each individual.
With input from agencies
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
