The Thane Police have booked a rap artist, Raj Mungase, for an alleged defamatory song about the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.
Mungase, a resident of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, was booked on Tuesday after the video was widely shared on social media. The rapper had first posted the video on his YouTube channel on March 25.
In his song, Mungase calls MLAs from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction “thieves who came with 50 khoke [Rs 50 crore]”.
Since the political drama in Maharashtra last year that saw the ouster of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has been alleging that the legislators from the the Eknath Shinde group received Rs 50 crores to switch sides and ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Maha Vikas Aghadi comprises the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
In his song, Mungase also makes references to about how MLAs led by Shinde were taken to Surat, Guwahati and Goa after they rebelled against the Thackeray government. The rapper also uses some abusive words about the legislators in his song.
He was booked on the basis of a complaint filed by Snehal Dilip Kamble, a leader of the Shiv Sena’s youth wing, Yuva Sena, according to the Hindustan Times. The Yuva Sena is headed by Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde.
The police have booked Mungase under Indian Penal Code Sections 501 (disseminating defamatory content), 504 (intentional provocation to disturb public peace) and 505(2) (promoting enmity).
“We are investigating the matter and taking help of the cybercrime unit,” Senior Police Inspector Ashok Bhagat, told the Hindustan Times. “No arrest has been made yet.”
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