Bhubaneswar: Ollywood actor Buddhaditya Mohanty faced backlash for his social media post on Lawrence Bishnoi and the gangster's rumoured targets.
Reacting to his post on Facebook, a student wing of Odisha Congress lodged a complaint against him at the Capital Police Station in Bhubaneswar today.
In a post, the actor described gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is allegedly behind the sensational murder of senior NCP leader Baba Siddique, as a secret agency of India and anticipated All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen President Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi his next target.
Clarifying his social media post, Buddhaditya rubbished allegations leveled by the student wing of Congress. He said that he posted the content based on rumours spread on various social media platforms.
"I have mentioned 'murder' or 'target' nowhere in my post. Only I wrote, who is Lawrence Bishnoi's next? As there is so much buzz on Instagram and Facebook about Lawrence Bishnoi, I have never said that it is my target to kill someone. I have no intention to instigate or target anyone. The Congress people misunderstood me as well as my post. Many in the country are making anti-India statements. As a citizen of India, I just exercised my right to freedom of expression," the actor said.
When asked about his stand for Lawrence Bishnoi, the Ollywood star said, "I do not support Lawrence Bishnoi's violent method. However, somewhere I find his actions are 'pro-Sanatana' and 'pro-India'.
On outrage expressed by Congress activists over his statement on social media, he said, "Nothing I have mentioned in the post that will spread violence. However, I have deleted my post as per the suggestion of my family members and friends."
Baba Siddique (66), a Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead on October 12 night outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai’s upscale Bandra.
The police have so far arrested four persons, including Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters; Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), and “co-conspirator” and Shubham Lonkar’s brother Pravin Lonkar, who hails from Pune.