Thane: NCP leader Awhad booked for 'offensive' remarks against Sindhi community; party says clip 'morphed'

Police on Thursday registered a criminal case against NCP leader and former Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Jitendra Awhad for allegedly making offensive remarks against the Sindhi community at an event in Thane district last month.

A Thane police spokesman said a first information report (FIR) was registered against the 59-year-old politician at the Hill Line police station on a complaint filed by Jamnadas Puruswani, president of the Ulhasnagar unit of the BJP.

Awhad was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295A (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings of any class of citizens) and 298 (deliberate intention of wounding religious feelings of any person), he said.

A probe was underway into the matter, said the police spokesman.

However, the NCP claimed the video carrying the former minister's remarks was morphed.

The complaint said the sitting MLA from Mumbra-Kalwa in Thane district made the alleged offensive remarks while addressing NCP activists and leaders at a meeting in Ulhasnagar town, which has significant Sindhi community population, on May 27.

Ahwad's derogatory comments, which went viral on social media, have hurt the sentiments of Sindhi community members, it said.

NCP Thane unit president Anand Paranjpe alleged a morphed video of Awhad's speech from the event was being circulated on social media. The Opposition party, in a release, said a delegation of party office-bearers submitted a memorandum to the police seeking action against those behind the 'morphed' video.