Chandigarh: Punjab Police has denied that its team has arrested Rakhi Sawant, as reported by ANI earlier. Clearing the air, Dhruman Nimbale, DCP Ludhiana, said that there has been no arrest of Rakhi Sawant.
“There has been no arrest of Rakhi Sawant by Ludhiana Police in Mumbai. Four-member team sent there is scheduled to return Wednesday morning and is in train currently.”
Earlier, a local court in Ludhiana had issued an arrest warrant against Rakhi Sawant on March 9 based on a complaint lodged by a lawyer for her derogatory remarks against sage Valmiki, author of Hindu epic Ramayana.
The case was lodged by Narinder Adiya, an advocate, in July 2016. The court had summoned Rakhi earlier but she never showed up. The court decided to issue a non-bailable warrant against the actor.
Denying the charges against her for allegedly making objectionable remarks, Rakhi told ANI earlier that she is an innocent person who believes in doing social work. “I am not Salman Khan, I am Rakhi Sawant. You won’t get anything by putting charges on me. I am a simple girl who does social work and work in movies,” she told ANI in an earlier interview.
While speaking about the controversy created in the name of Valmiki, the 38-year-old actress said that she used the example of Valmiki’s change of soul to explain the change in her friend and singer Mika Singh, when he was accused in an assault case. “I just gave an example from what I have read in my childhood. Just like Valmiki, who got changed from being a robber to a saint, Mika ji also has changed. It was just an example,” she said.
Reportedly, a warrant was issued against her on the basis of a complaint filed against her for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of the Valmiki community with her comments.
When she was asked about the warrant, Rakhi defied it by saying, “I did not receive any notice or summon in regard to the warrant. I too got to know from the media this morning that police is coming to arrest me, because allegedly I told something wrong against sage Valmiki. I respect him and Valmiki community a lot. I don’t know why I am being targeted.”
Adding, “When I got the news, I initially thought it was an April Fool prank. I don’t know why I am being targeted. May be because I belong to the film industry, I am an easy target. Finally, she concluded her explanation by saying, “Through ANI, I want to apologies to all the Valmiki community brothers and sisters, if I have hurt their sentiment. But this wasn’t my intention.”