A day ahead of the release of Sanjay leela Bhansali’s controversial film Padmaavat, Uttar Pradesh capital lucknow on Wednesday witnessed protests near malls and theatres from activists claiming to be associated with a Rajput fringe group.
Even as the protests were underway, members of another fringe group, the Kanpur Kshatriya Mahasabha, announced a cash reward to anyone who chops off actor Deepika Padukone’s nose.
“We have collected crores of rupees from Kanpurites to be given as reward to anyone who will bring the chopped nose of Deepika Padukone,” its president Gajendra Singh Rajawat told PTI in Kanpur.
A number of activists staged protest outside two malls in Gomti Nagar area of the state capital. Police, however, managed to control the situation and detained a few activists. “The security around cinema halls have been increased. We will not let anyone take law in his hand,” a senior police official said. Police had to use mild force to disperse the protesters gathered outside Gomti Nagar police station against the detention of the activists.
An alert has been sounded in the State and all the district police chiefs have been asked to remain vigilant, the police officer said. In Gorakhpur, a large number of people belonging to the Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Samaj protested in front of the district magistrate’s office. The protesters gave a memorandum to the district magistrate against the release of the film. Fearing violence and damage, cinema hall and multiplexes in Gorakhpur are not yet ready to screen the controversial film despite SC directives.