Man booked for morphing Godse’s picture on currency

M.P. police act a week after social media post

The Sidhi police have registered a case against a person, said to be a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), for replacing Mahatma Gandhi’s image with that of his assassin Nathuram Godse on a currency note in a social media post. The action comes after the police earlier said a case could not be made out in the incident.

“The accused is still absconding, and we are yet to trace him,” S.M. Patel, in- charge, Kotwali Sidhi police station told The Hindu. On May 22, Mr. Patel had said, “There is no case in this.”

The police registered the case on May 26, a week after the post was shared on Facebook, under section 153-A [Promoting enmity between different groups on various grounds and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony] of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

On the birth anniversary of Godse on May 19, Shivam Shukla posted the edited image of a ₹10 currency note, with the replaced image, and wrote: “Long live Nathuram Godse”. He also shared a modified version of Gandhi’s couplet along with the post: “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, desh bacha gaye Nathuram (Nathuram saved the country)”.

On May 20, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress, had complained to the police demanding a case be registered against Mr. Shukla, an alleged student leader of the ABVP, affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on charges of sedition and fraud.