Maharashtra historian gets ‘threat’ calls for claim on who betrayed Sambhaji Maharaj

KOLHAPUR: The Kolhapur police have registered an FIR based on a complaint from historian Indrajeet Sawant that a person, who identified himself as Prashant Koratkar, called him and made statements promoting enmity or disharmony between different groups, outraging religious feelings and insult.
After Sawant put out a recording of the phone conversation on his social media account, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis asked Kolhapur superintendent of police Mahendra Pandit to look into the matter.
“We have registered the FIR. We will proceed with the investigation,” said Pandit.
The FIR has been registered at Juna Rajwada Police Station under sections 196, 197 (both related to promoting enmity or disharmony between different groups), 299 (outraging religious feelings), 302 (similar to section 299), 151 (protecting the autonomy and authority of high-ranking officials), and 352 (provocation, insult) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita based on the written complaint submitted by Sawant.
Addressing a press conference in Kolhapur, Sawant claimed that he received three phone calls on Monday at midnight.
According to the audio recording of the phone conversation, the person identifying himself as Koratkar objected to Sawant’s claim regarding betrayal of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.
Sawant also claimed that the person accused him of portraying a community as a villain and spoke ill of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
In the meantime, Prashant Koratkar, a Nagpur resident, told the media that he did not know the historian and had not called him.
Speaking to the media in Nagpur, Koratkar said, “I don’t know who Indrajeet Sawant is, nor did I make any call to him. I suspect that someone has done mischief by cloning my voice; I don’t know how. Also, before maligning me on social media, Sawant should have contacted me and sought clarity. He proceeded without cross-checking the facts. Therefore, I am going to file a complaint with the appropriate authority,” said Koratkar.
The Nagpur police deployed two personnel and a home guard at Koratkar’s residence after he filed an application regarding receiving threats after the controversy.