'PM Modi was abused on stage': Police summons man to record statement six years after filing complaint

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh police has summoned a Bhopal resident, who filed a written complaint six years ago alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was insulted, to record his statement. The complaint was that the Prime Minister was abused in the presence of thousands of people during a rally held at Iqbal Maidan in Bhopal.

The complaint was filed by Shamsul Hasan Balli, who was a Samajwadi Party worker and is currently the state president of Sanukta Sangharsh Morcha. Shamsul Hasan submitted a complaint including audio and video evidence to the state government and top police officials. The complainant is accusing the Congress MLA Arif Masood of insulting Modi from the stage.

"Our Prime Minister was abused from the stage. No one is bigger than the constitution... he is our elected Prime Minister. Anyone who uses abusive words against him, strict action should be taken against him. I had sent a complaint to the Governor, DGP (Director General of Police), Chief Minister, Home Minister at that time, but it took six years for the complaint from Shyamala Hills to come to the police station," Mr Balli said.

The complaint points out that Modi was insulted at the first meeting of the All India Milli Council (AIMC) held in Bhopal in 2016. About 300 delegates including Muslim clerics from all over India attended the conference. The conference was followed by a public event on the theme 'justice, peace and responsibilities', where thousands of people gathered.

BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said that despite the delay in taking the complainant's statement, the culprits will be punished. Meanwhile, the Congress rejected the allegations of the complainant. Congress spokesperson Abbas Hafeez stated that there were many people on the stage and they are targeting Arif Masood as he was a Congress MLA.