More than two years after she was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly posting derogatory comments on Buddhism, the Rabale police on Thursday arrested Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale.
The case was registered on March 3, 2020, based on a complaint filed by Swapnil Jagtap, a resident of Ghansoli and a final-year law student then. Jagtap, who is part of Ambedkar Yuva Sangh, alleged that he had received a screenshot on WhatsApp about Chitale’s Facebook post on March 1, 2020, and comments below it by one Suraj Shinde.
According to the complaint, Chitale had given six points with comments on Muslims, Parsis, Jains, Christians and Budhists. She mentioned that on December 6 every year, Buddhists would travel for free to Mumbai, thus sending out a very wrong message, Jagtap said, adding below her post, Shinde wrote very objectionable comments on Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mata Ramabai Bheemrao Ambedkar, and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.
Vashi Division assistant commissioner of police D D Tele, who is the investigating officer in the case, said, “She has been arrested and will be produced before court on Friday. The second accused is yet to be nabbed.”
Meanwhile, Nikhil Bhamre, who was arrested in Nashik by the Thane crime branch for allegedly posting derogatory comments on Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, was produced before a Thane court on Thursday. The court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
Thane crime branch officer, police inspector K Kolani, said, “We produced him before the Thane court for custody but he was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. He will be lodged in Thane jail after completing all formalities. We are taking the case details from the Nashik police for further investigation.”
On May 14, Chitale was arrested by the Thane police for her alleged controversial Facebook post on Pawar.
(With inputs by Anamika Gharat)