Tandav row: UP Police arrives in Mumbai, serves notice to director Ali Abbas Zafar

A four-member team of Uttar Pradesh Police arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday to conduct a probe into a case registered in Lucknow against controversial web series Tandav.  According to Asian News International, the team then proceeded to visit show creator and director Ali Abbas Zafar’s residence. Anil Kumar of the UP police team told the outlet that though Zafar was unavailable at the time of their visit, they had served him the notice. Zafar has been asked to appear before the Investigating Officer on 27 January in Lucknow. Here is the update

We have served notice asking him to appear before IO (Investigation Officer) on 27th January in Lucknow. His house was locked and nobody was there, so we pasted the notice there: Anil Kumar Singh, Uttar Pradesh Police https://t.co/Stp7tNICC5 pic.twitter.com/3dt48XMUuh

— ANI (@ANI) January 21, 2021

The makers and cast and crew of the Amazon Prime Video’s series have been accused of hurting religious sentiments for its depiction of Hindu deities. The UP Police personnel reached Mumbai in the morning and visited the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection-1) in suburban Andheri for assistance, the official said. Two members of the UP Police team also visited the Mumbai Police headquarters in south Mumbai in the afternoon. While at the Mumbai Police headquarters, the UP Police personnel said they are getting cooperation from their counterparts here and “there is no issue about it”. “We had come to meet police officers at the headquarters, we are not authorised to speak,” an official from the UP Police team said. On Monday, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s media advisor Shalabhmani Tripathi said the makers of Tandav will have to pay the price for hurting religious sentiments. He said four members of the UP police have left for Mumbai for a detailed probe into the case, after an FIR was lodged against the show at the Hazratganj police station. “UP Police has left for Mumbai, that too in a car.There are strong sections in the FIR, remain prepared, will have to pay a price for hurting religious sentiments,” Tripathi said in his tweet. At least three FIRs have been lodged against the makers and artists of Tandav in Uttar Pradesh - at Lucknow, Greater Noida and Shahjahanpur - for alleged inappropriate depiction of UP Police personnel, deities, and adverse portrayal of a character playing prime minister in the show. Tandav, a nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, started streaming last week. At the centre of the row is a scene with Zeeshan Ayyub, in the role of college student Shiva, playing the Hindu god Mahadev in a theatre production. As the controversy escalated, the show makers on Tuesday tried to defuse the situation by announcing their decision to remove the controversial portion from the show. The cast and crew of the show on Tuesday also said they had decided to implement changes to “address concerns”. In their second apology statement in two days, the show’s team also thanked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for its “guidance & support” in the matter. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)