A team of Uttar Pradesh Police arrived at the residence of the director of web series Tandav, Ali Abbas Zafar, to serve him notice on Thursday, 21 January, as per a report by ANI.
"We have served notice asking him to appear before the IO (Investigation Officer) on 27 January in Lucknow. His house was locked and nobody was there, so we pasted the notice there", Anil Kumar Singh, Uttar Pradesh Police, told ANI. The news agency later put out a correction that the UP Police had arrived at the office of producer of Tandav, Himanshu Mehra to serve him a notice. They realised after reaching the premises that the producer had vacated it.
According to reports, the police also visited the residence of Tandav's writer Gaurav Solanki. "His house was locked, so we pasted the notice there. He too has been asked to appear before the Investigation Officer in Lucknow, on 27 January", said Anil Kumar Singh while leaving Solanki's Mumbai residence.
Three FIRs have been filed in Uttar Pradesh against Tandav for hurting religious sentiments. Tandav, which features Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in lead roles, has faced incessant backlash after BJP leaders called for a ban alleging the show mocked Shiva and hurt the sentiments of Hindus. Several complaints have been filed seeking action against the show, including criminal complaints before courts in Delhi and Bihar and FIRs in Lucknow's Hazratganj Kotwali and Madhya Pradesh.
A number of scenes have also been edited from the show after the legal trouble.
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