Kamaal R Khan, also known as KRK, was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Tuesday after he was arrested for his tweets in 2020. Several reports said that Khan was arrested at the Mumbai airport upon his arrival.
ANI reported that Khan was arrested by the Malad police.
Here's what you need to know about the case:
FIR in 2020
An FIR was registered against Khan in 2020 for his alleged derogatory remarks against Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. While Kapoor died on April 30, 2020, Irrfan Khan died on April 29 of the same year. Both the actors had suffered from cancer.
News agency PTI had reported in May 2020 saying that the FIR was lodged after a complaint from Yuva Sena core committee member Rahul Kanal.
Kanal had complained to the police about Khan's tweets about the actors.
A senior police official had told PTI that a case had been registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code. One of them was under Section 294 which pertains to punishment for obscene acts or words in public.
Kanal said that Khan's language was offensive and hence he registered an FIR. Speaking to Mid-Day after Khan's arrest, Kanal said, "Kamal had been targeting several celebrities on social media platforms. The celebrities included senior actors as well as newcomers. The language in his tweets was offensive for senior actors too. His tweets had come to my notice after which I had complained to the police and today he has been arrested."
In 2020, Kanal had said in his complaint that Khan was spreading hatred by tweeting against people who had just passed away. The Times of India quoted the complaint as saying, "... when our human world is going through the pandemic this individual is trying to spread hatred amongst our beloved citizens about an actor who was just about to go through his final rites."
What did Khan say in his tweets?
The former Bigg Boss contestant is a self-styled movie critic who is often critical of Bollywood celebrities. The PTI report in 2020 said that Khan had allegedly taken to Twitter after Kapoor's death to say the actor should not die as wine shops were set to open soon.
A police official had also said that Khan allegedly took digs at Irrfan Khan as well.
A search on Twitter does not bring up Khan's tweets from 2020. But other tweets by Khan from 2016 and 2015 show Khan criticised the actors over and over again. In one of the tweets in 2019, Khan is seen taking a dig at Irrfan Khans's wife for writing a social media message for him after the actor's recovery that year from cancer.
In a tweet from 2016, Khan calls Kapoor a 'big idiot' and goes on to make unconfirmed claims about him.
