BJP youth wing demonstrates against Ram Gopal Varma in Mumbai

Mumbai, July 5 (ANI): The youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a demonstration against Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma here on Tuesday over his decision to cast Kannada actress Maria Susairaj, recently released in the murder case of television executive Neeraj Grover.

According to media reports, Varma had announced that he would be offering Susairaj a role in his film.

Amit Satam, President of BJP youth wing, Mumbai, said they had sent a letter to Varma to give a press statement that he would not cast Susairaj, but Varma did not accept their letter.

"Yesterday (June 4), we had sent a letter to Ram Gopal Varma and we had asked him to give a statement in the press that he will not cast Maria Susairaj in the film, but he did not give any statement and also refused to accept our letter," said Satam.

"So, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party declared yesterday that they would demonstrate in front of his office. All the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party from across Mumbai were arrested by the police," he added.

Satam further said the police have arrested all the BJP youth wing workers from across Mumbai.

"I want to ask the police that why does police arrest people who are coming out on the streets and protesting for the welfare of the society and why does the police not act against people who commit crime on the streets of Mumbai," he added.

Ram Gopal Varma has reportedly filed a police complaint against the BJP Yuva Morcha for threatening him in this regard.

Meanwhile, Dilip Roopwate, senior police inspector of Versova police station, said they had deployed police personnel outside the office of Varma, to avoid any kind of untoward incident and around 15-20 BJP workers were arrested.

"The youth wing workers of the BJP decided to protest outside the office of Ram Gopal Varma. Yesterday, we received that news after which we deployed police personnel here and when the protestors tried to enter the office, we apprehended them and took them to the police station for further action. We have arrested 15-20 people and we have registered the case against them," he said.

Maria Susairaj, who was convicted for destruction of evidence in the Neeraj Grover murder case, walked free from Mumbai's Byculla Jail on Saturday for having already served her three-year sentence awarded by a court during the trial.

A Mumbai Session Court on Friday sentenced Maria Susairaj to three years, while her boyfriend Emile Jerome Mathew, a former Navy Lieutenant, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Neeraj Grover murder case.

Maria had already served a sentence of three years and therefore she was set free. (ANI)