AHMEDNAGAR district police have booked suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Telangana MLA T Raja Singh for his alleged hate speech towards the Muslim community during a programme organised in Shrirampur town of the district on the occasion of Shiv Jayanti last week.
Officials from Shrirampur police station, where the complaint against the legislator was lodged in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, said that Singh was invited for a programme in the town on March 10, which is marked as Shiv Jayanti – the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, according to the Hindu calendar.
“During his speech… Singh made derogatory remarks towards Muslim community…some local members of the community approached us and filed a complaint based on which an offence has been registered against him. We have invoked Indian Penal Code sections 295, 504 and 506,” said inspector Harshwardhan Gawali, in-charge of Shrirampur town police station.
IPC section 295 pertains to injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class while 504 and 506 pertain to intentional insult and criminal intimidation, respectively.
Earlier, an FIR was registered against Singh in the state’s Latur district for alleged hate speech during the Shiv Jayanti event on February 19 – the birth anniversary of the Maratha warrior king, according to the Gregorian calender.
In August 2022, Singh was arrested by Telangana police for his alleged remarks against Islam and Prophet Mohammed after which the BJP had distanced itself from his comment and had suspended him from the party.
