Surat: Surat Police arrested five Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists for vandalising posters of the movie ‘Pathaan’ at a Ruplai cinema in the Rander area of Surat on Saturday. They were later released on bail on Sunday.

Five men booked by Rander Police are Ravi Gupta (28), Parth Mistry (25), Mukesh Vanzara (34), Deva Vanzara (42) and Parth Patel (25).

According to FIR by the employee of the theatre, some people tore apart the posters of the Pathaan film to protest against its release. The complainant also informed the media that five culprits were arrested while 3 escaped.

Police Inspector AS Sonara said that after receiving the information regarding some people tearing the posters, we arrested these five men. They are booked for rioting under IPC Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees or upwards), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (1) (punishment for criminal intimidation).

The ‘Pathaan’ movie is facing a lot of heat because of the song ‘Besharam Rang’ that features Deepika Padukone in Saffron Bikini, many groups including VHP and Bajrang Dal have demanded a ban on the movie.

Bajrang Dal, on the other hand, said a five-member committee would review the film, and if there are any objectionable scenes or scenes that hurt Hindu sentiments, they would not allow the film to release.

Yogi Devnath of Hindu Yuva Vahini also tweeted a warning for multiplex owners to not release the Pathaan film.

गुजरात में कर्णावती और सूरत के मल्टीप्लेक्स वालों सुन लो अभी भी आपके पास 2 दिन बचे हैं मान जाइए और पठान मत लगाइए।
फिर मत कहना…#BoycottPathan

— Yogi Devnath 🇮🇳 (@YogiDevnath2) January 22, 2023