A body was found hanging on the ramparts of Jaipur’s Nahargarh Fort on Friday, with a threat note engraved on the rocks in protest of the movie ‘Padmavati’, threatening the ongoing Padmavati to escalate to another level. The body was hanging 200 m above the ground.
The deceased is a 40 year old local, Chetan Saini, according to ANI. The police is trying to identify the body of deceased and cause of the death.
Earlier, it was speculated to be a suicide case, but the when the police reached the spot they found a message written on the rocks. The note says "Hum Sirf putley nahi jalathey Padmavati", which literally translates to "We don't just burn effigies".
According to various media reports, the complete message says, "Padmavati ka virodh. Hum putle nahi jalaate hain, hum maarte hain‘ which translates to "Protest against ‘Padmavati’. We don’t burn effigies, we kill".
The note ends with the word 'Padamvati', immediately connecting the death to the ongoing controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's mangum-opus.
According to News18, Rajput Karni Sena, the organisation which is at the forefront of anti-Padmavati protests, has denied the involvement of their outfit in the happening.
Mahipal Singh Makrana, a member of the outfit says,"This is not our way of protest. I want to tell people not to resort to such methods".
"It is early to comment on it as the matter is under investigation. The identity of the man, around 40-years-old, is yet to be ascertained," Satyendra Singh, DCP Jaipur (North), told IANS.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati" has been mired in controversies since its shooting started. Activists of the Karni Sena, a Rajput community, besides other groups have been protesting against the movie, claiming the film "distorts" historical facts.
"They are trying to defame queen Padmavati by distorting historical facts. It is not acceptable," an activist of the Karni Sena said.
Activists of the Karni Sena earlier this month vandalised a theatre in Kota, Rajasthan, over reports that it was showing a trailer of "Padmavati". A Karni Sena leader threatened actress Deepika Padukone, who plays the lead in the movie, with physical harm.
The Nahargarh fort is famous for having a spot which shot to fame after the Bollywood movie 'Rang De Basanti' was filmed there.
Padmavati, which was supposed to release on December 1 was indefinitely pushed for a later date. On Thursday the film was cleared by the British censors without a single cut.
(with ANI, IANS inputs)