New Delhi: Filmmaker Avinash Das, who has directed Anaarkali of Aarah, was detained by Ahmedabad Crime Branch outside his residence in Mumbai.
The director has been detained in connection with a case where he shared a photo on social media of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Jharkhand IAS officer Pooja Singhal. Singhal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
“Das has been detained from his residence in Mumbai and will be brought to Ahmedabad,” a senior police official of Ahmedabad DCB was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Das had earlier moved the Gujarat High Court seeking anticipatory bail after a sessions court had rejected his anticipatory bail in connection with an FIR lodged by the Ahmedabad city crime branch under sections 469 (forgery) of the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and Information and Technology Act.
An FIR was registered against Das after he shared a photo showing Singhal, who was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, whispering something to Shah.
As per the FIR, in a caption to the photo Das had claimed that the picture was taken a few days before Singhal’s arrest, when it was actually taken in 2017.
The filmmaker was also booked for insulting the national honour by sharing a photo on his Instagram and Facebook accounts of a woman wearing the tricolour.
Avinash Das has directed 2017 film “Anaarkali Of Aarah” starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi. He has also directed Raat Baaki Hai and Netflix series ‘She‘.
(With inputs from PTI)