Several Bajrang Dal workers were detained for a brief period on 4 January, after tearing off the posters of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's upcoming film Pathaan at a theatre in Alpha One Mall in Ahmedabad's Vastrapur area to protest against the film's release, as per a report by The Indian Express.
Social activist Shabnam Hashmi shared a video of the incident on Twitter, condemning the act.
Here, take a look:
JK Dangarr, Inspector of Vastrapur police station told The Indian Express, "There were about 10-12 people of the Bajrang Dal who went to tear off posters of Pathaan movie at the theatre inside Alpha One mall in Vastrapur. They tore the movie posters, kicked and stepped on them.
Otherwise nothing was damaged and there was no case of vandalism… After that, they came out and held a demonstration against the release of the movie. We detained 5-6 of them and released them after about one-and-half hours."
Dangarr further mentioned that no police complaint was filed by the cinema house.
According to The Indian Express, the spokesperson of Gujarat Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Hitendrasinh Rajput said, "Bajrang Dal workers got to know that posters of Pathaan movie were put up in the theatre. So, it was a ‘pradarshan (protest)’ as they did not want the movie to be released in the theatre, and police detained them."
Directed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and John Abraham is slated for its theatrical release on 25 January 2023.
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