Bhopal: Chhattisgarh police arrested the Hindu religious leader, Kalicharan Maharaj, who insulted Mahatma Gandhi and praised Nathuram Godse, news agencies reported.
The man was arrested from Madhya Pradesh's Khajuraho and charged with promoting enmity between communities as per the police case filed by mayor Pramod Dubey.
The man had booked a guest house in Khajuraho but stayed in a rented house 25km away in order to mislead the police. He also took measures like making his close acquaintances keep their cell phones switched off to make it difficult for the police to track him, Raipur Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal told PTI. But the police, who had been behind him since the case against him was filed, tracked, arrested and took him to Raipur on Thursday morning. He will be produced before court by evening.
On Sunday, an FIR was registered against Kalicharan Maharaj in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur for using derogatory words against Mahatma Gandhi. A case was also registered against him at Akola in Maharashtra on Monday in this connection.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra accused Chhattisgarh police of violating inter-state protocol, saying they did not inform the local police. But Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel rejected Narottam's allegations. He asked Narottam to state whether he is happy or not about the arrest of the man who insulted Mahatma Gandhi. He assured that the arrest was made according to the procedure.
Kalicharan said in the 'dharma sansad', the religious conclave, conducted in Raipur that Islam aims to capture India through politics, and Mahatma Gandhi destroyed the country. He paid salutations to Nathuram Godse and called for electing a staunch Hindu leader to protect Hinduism. His speech infuriated the chief patron of the event, Mahant Ramsunder Das, who disowned the event and left the stage.
(With inputs from agencies)