Goa Police refuse to book Pramod Muthalik over hate speech

Panaji, June 14: The

Police have refused to register an FIR against Karnataka-based Sri Rama Sene (SRS) chief

for an alleged hate speech uploaded on YouTube where he had exhorted the Hindus to keep a sword handy and use it if challenged.

The written refusal to register a criminal complaint filed by Congress spokesperson Durgadas Kamat last month came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Goa on Saturday, his first state outing after assuming office.

The Congress sees a coincidence between the police's refusal to register the First Information Report (FIR) against Muthalik and Modi's arrival in Goa.

"Here is a person, who in a video has exhorted the Hindus to keep swords. After our complaint the video was deleted from the YouTube. Are police not registering the complaint because of their right wing political masters? There is a definite link between the decision of not booking Muthalik and Modi's visit," Kamat said.

A video of the speech was uploaded on YouTube but was later deleted

The police intimation, dated June 12, was received by the Congress office Friday and said: "The perusal of the complaint does not disclose commission of cognizable offence." A copy of the letter signed by Inspector Rajendra Prabhudessai is with IANS.

In his complaint filed May 29, Kamat had claimed that Muthalik during a religious meeting held in Goa few months back had exhorted the Hindus to keep swords in their houses and his SRS would gift every Hindu houses a sword and a copy of Bhagavad Gita.

A video of the speech was uploaded on popular video-sharing website YouTube, but was deleted a couple of days after the complaint was filed at the Panaji police station.

The complaint also said the SRS chief, who was accused of attacking pub-goers in Karnataka's Mangalore town, had repeated the same intent during campaigning ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

IANS