MUMBAI: Three First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered against NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad for allegedly outraging religious feelings with his "Lord Ram was a non-vegetarian" remark in Mumbai and Palghar districts, officials said on Saturday.
While police in Mumbai registered two cases, another case was registered at Navghar police station in Thane district.
Before that, Pune city police had registered an FIR against Awhad, who belongs to the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party faction.
The former Maharashtra minister has not been arrested, though.
"A case was registered against Awhad at MIDC police station on Friday night based on a complaint lodged by Gautam Ravriya, an office-bearer of the Vishva Hindu Parishad. The complainant said he heard Awhad making objectionable remarks against Lord Ram on a news channel," a police official said.
The case was registered under Indian Penal Code section 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), he said.
An FIR on similar charges was also registered at Ghatkopar police station on Saturday based on a complaint lodged by local BJP MLA Ram Kadam, another official said.
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Further, an FIR was registered at Navghar police station in neighbouring Thane under the same section on the complaint of a local businessman.
Awhad, who represents the Mumbra-Kalwa assembly constituency in Thane district, kicked up a row with his remark on January 3.
"Lord Ram used to hunt and eat. He is ours, of bahujans. You (an apparent reference to the BJP) are turning us into vegetarians, (but) we are following the example of Ram and consuming mutton," he said at an NCP conclave at Shirdi.
The term 'bahujan' is used to denote the non-Brahmin sections of society in Maharashtra.
The MLA later expressed regret over his remarks but didn't withdraw them.
In Pune, the FIR against Awhad was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Bharatiya Janata Party's city unit chief Dhiraj Ghate.