Hyderabad (The Hawk): Atheist Bairi Naresh was detained by Telangana Police on Saturday for allegedly insulting Lord Ayyappa and other Hindu deities.
Following statewide protests by followers of Lord Ayyappa, police in Hanamkonda district detained the state president of the Bharata Nasthika Samajam.
Following complaints from the followers, cases were initiated against Naresh at several police stations throughout the state.
Naresh was also detained by Hyderabad police's cyber crime unit for allegedly uttering offensive remarks.
At several police stations throughout the state, cases were lodged against him under sections 153A, 295A, 208, and 505 (2) of the IPC.
He is said to have made disparaging statements about the birth of Lord Ayyappa and the gods Shiva and Vishnu during a gathering of Dalit organisations two days ago in Kodangal.
The protests were started after the video of his comments went viral on social media.
Karate Kalyani, an actor and BJP politician, had also reported the incident to the police. She claimed that defaming Hindu deities for attention had become fashionable and called for Naresh to face harsh punishment for hurting religious feelings.
Bandi Sanjay, the state president of the BJP, criticised the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) administration and urged that the criminal be punished.
In Telangana, he claimed, anyone can insult Hindu deities and escape punishment since the chief minister supports blasphemy while doing nothing.
He asked in a tweet: "What action has been taken so far on insults against Gods Vishnu, Shiva, and Ayyappa done at Kodangal? KCR claims to be a True Hindu, and his Hinduvta is true.
Sanjay claimed that the BRS administration provided protection to Munawar Faruqui, who insulted the goddess Seethamma, as well as approval for others to hold gatherings and utter disparaging words about the birth of Lord Ayyappa.
Raja Singh, a BJP lawmaker, also criticised the police for failing to move against Naresh even two days after the incident.
(Inputs from Agencies)