New Delhi: Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra has reportedly wrote a letter to Mumbai Police, urging them to record his statement through a video conference. The move comes after the artist skipped three summons issued by the Khar Police with the latest of them being made on March 31 for an appearance on April 5.
The summons were made on the basis of four FIRs registered against him following a controversy was sparked on his stand-up comedy act named ‘Naya Bharat’, which was performed live in February in Mumbai. A video was uploaded on Kamra’s official YouTube channel on March 22. Consequently, violent scenes took place at the Habitat Studio in Khar, the venue where the act was performed.
In his video, Kamra mocked Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in a parody song, calling him traitor for splitting the political party Shiv Sena in 2022.
According a report by Indiaoday.in, Kamra requested for a video conference after failing to comply to the three summons. The Khar Police is yet to respond to the appeal made by the 36-year-old comedian, who has shifted his base to Puducherry in the recent years.
The report further mentioned that a team of police officers from Khar Police station reached Puducherry on April 4 to investigate on the FIR registered against Kamra.
Meanwhile, Kamra has managed to secure an anticipatory bail from Madras High Court until April 7. This prevents him from being arrest in a jurisdiction different, though on a temporary basis.
Kamra, on his social media platforms, has mentioned that he won’t apologise for his remarks, citing his freedom of expression.
Recent reports have also suggested that popular online ticketing platform BookMyShow have delisted Kamra from their portal and removed all his upcoming shows. It comes after a letter from Shiv Sena official Rahool Kanal wrote a letter to the platform’s CEO Ashish Hemrajani to remove the artist from their website. Kanal wrote that Kamra is someone who engages in ‘sustained campaign of vilification and defamation’, targeting politicians.
