Mumbai: Amid the Kunal Kamra and Shiv Sena controversy, Mumbai police has arrested 11 vandals linked to the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) for vandalising and destroying the property of Habitat Comedy Club in Khar where Comedian Kunal Kamra had performed his recent political sattire stand-up special for YouTube 'Naya Bharat'. In this video, Kamra has been seen commenting and taking a jibe at Maharashtra deputy chief minister, Eknath Shinde calling his 'Gaddar' (traitor).
According to sources, two offences were registered at Khar police station. One offence against stand up comedian for derogatory comments and other offence on people who ransacked the Unicontinental hotel.
Dixit Gedam, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-9, stated, "Two offences have been registered at Khar Police Station — one against a stand-up comedian for derogatory comments, and the other against the people who ransacked the Unicontinental Hotel. Further investigation is ongoing."
On Monday, an FIR was lodged against Rahool Kanal, General Secretary of Shiv Sena Yuva Sena (Shinde Faction), along with 19 others for allegedly vandalizing the Habitat standup comedy set in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
According to Sub Inspector Vijay from the Khar police station, while standup comedian Rajat Sood was performing live, the Shinde Sena's youth group came to the venue, forced the show to stop, and vandalized the set.
In light of the controversy, the Habitat Comedy Club has declared a temporary closure following the vandalism of the premises by Shiv Sena Workers on Sunday.
Asserting that the recent incidents, relating to Kunal Kamra and Rajat Sood's standup show as well as the India’s Got Latent issue, have rendered it challenging for the club to offer a venue where artists can perform with "free expression without putting ourselves and our property in jeopardy", the club stated in their recent Instagram post while announcing the shut down.
