As an artist I did what I was told to do: Kiku Sharda on his arrest

Mumbai: Actor Kiku Sharda, better known by the name ‘Palak’ from ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ has landed into some serious trouble. The actor has been arrested for mimicking Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and has been sent to 14 days of judicial custody.

On January 1, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s followers filed a complaint against the actor after an episode showing him mimicking the godman was aired on the small screen on December 27, 2015.

The actor had shared the picture of him dressed as the godman on his official social networking account.

Kiku, on the very next day of the episode, wrote an apology on his Twitter handle saying ,"Doston the act on TV was not to hurt anyone's feelings. My apologies to @Gurmeetramrahim ji and his followers. Let's spread happiness.

While talking to the media today, the actor said, "All I would say is that I am an artist, I am given a script and told to perform. I am given costumes. So what ever the script writer gave me, or the channel who was making this, I performed it as an artist. I did what I was told to do. I had no idea that it would hurt someone’s religious sentiments. I have apologized in the past if it has happened by mistake and apologize again. I don’t want my work to hurt anyone in any which way. You have been seeing me for the past 13 years, my job is to make people laugh and I have been doing that. I was doing a show called 'F.I.R' for many years and now I am doing 'Comedy Nights with Kapil', so my aim is to make people laugh. This was done unintentionally. As an artist I never say no to work. I accepted the look that was given to me.”

The actor further added,  "I respect all gurus, if you come home you will see my parents do poojas. My father, every 9-days reads Sundarkand path. My mother goes to the temple twice and we are a very religious family. I respect all the gurus and santh. I am a God fearing man."

Reportedly, the actor was arrested in Haryana and has been taken to Aarye Police station for further investigations.

The actor has been booked under Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for outraging religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief.