Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya following a complaint by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist, who alleged that Malviya made inappropriate cartoons and comments about Lord Shiva, PM Narendra Modi, and the RSS.

The FIR was lodged at Lasudiya Police Station in Indore on Wednesday night.

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According to police station In-charge Tareesh Soni, the FIR has been registered on the complaint of lawyer and RSS activist Vinay Joshi.

The police official said that the cartoonist has been booked under several sections, including 196 (acts detrimental to communal harmony), 299 (deliberate act intended to hurt religious sentiments), and 352 (intentional insult with the intent to breach peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Malviya has also been charged under Section 67A of the Information Technology Act (publication or transmission of material depicting sexually explicit acts in electronic form), he said.

The FIR refers to offensive content posted on Malviya’s Facebook account, including allegedly inappropriate comments about Lord Shiva, along with cartoons, videos, photos, and commentary related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS volunteers, and others, according to the official.

Malviya’s Facebook account includes a disclaimer stating that all characters in his cartoons are “fictional,” and any resemblance to real persons is “coincidental” and based on “viewers’ imagination.”

The police station in-charge said that investigations are underway, and Malviya has not yet been arrested.