KRK arrested over 2020 tweets against Akshay, Ram Gopal Verma

Mumbai: Kamal Rashid Khan, popularly known as KRK, was arrested over his 2020 tweets about Akshay Kumar and Ram Gopal Verma, with city police claiming that his posts were communal and he targeted Bollywood personalities.

A magistrate's court in Mumbai on August 30 remanded Khan in 14-day judicial custody and adjourned the bail hearing to September 2. He was arrested by police at the Mumbai airport late at night on August 29 after he arrived from Dubai. He was produced before additional chief metropolitan magistrate S P Kekan at Borivali court.

Police sought his custody for four days, saying they needed to find out at whose behest he was posting such tweets from a foreign country despite knowing that they might create communal tension.

"Police also needed to ascertain if he was trying to extort money from filmmakers or stars for not posting negative reviews of movies," the remand application said.

Khan mainly targeted Bollywood artists and was trying to create unrest between two groups of society by posting inflammatory statements and tweets against influential persons, police alleged.

Khan's lawyers opposed the remand plea, contending that his tweets were not inflammatory.

"The tweets were about actor Akshay Kumar and filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, but they had not filed any complaint and the First Information Report was registered by another person," the lawyers said.

After the court sent Khan into judicial custody by rejecting the police's plea, his lawyers filed a bail application. It said that the tweets in question were only Khan's comments on the film titled 'Laxmii Bomb' (released as only 'Laxmii') and no offense as alleged by police was committed.

Khan is acting as a 'critic and/or reporter in the film Industry', the bail plea said. The court then adjourned the hearing on bail to September 2.

Khan's lawyers later said he was taken to Shatabdi Hospital in the city due to his health condition. He had returned to India for heart treatment, they said.

As per the police, after the release Of Laxmii Bomb's trailer in 2020, Khan commented on its lead actor, Akshay Kumar, which was communal.