New Delhi: Comedian Kunal Kamra has expressed regret after reports emerged that a banker had to cut short his vacation following police summons for attending his show. Kamra, addressing the situation on social media, stated he was “deeply sorry for the inconvenience” and offered to sponsor a holiday for the banker anywhere in India.
“I deeply regret any inconvenience my show has caused you.”Please reach out via email so I can arrange your next vacation anywhere in India,” Kamra wrote on X.
The banker from Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar was on a trip to Tamil Nadu and Kerala when he received a call from Mumbai Police, asking him to appear for questioning. He was reportedly summoned as a witness in the defamation case against Kamra over his jokes about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.
Initially set to return from his 17-day trip on April 6, the banker had to cut his travels short after repeated calls from the police on March 28, instructing him to appear on March 30.
“I left for my trip on March 21 and was supposed to return on April 6, but I had to come back early after multiple calls from the police while I was in Tamil Nadu. The officer doubted my claim of being out of town and even threatened to visit my residence in Kharghar. This left me with no choice but to return,” he told .
Despite explaining that he had purchased his ticket online and had proof, the banker said police accused him of possibly editing a video of Kamra’s show. “Why would the comedian give me his show’s footage to edit?” he questioned.
Mumbai Police, however, denied issuing notices to attendees of Kamra’s *Naya Bharat* show, which was filmed at Mumbai’s Habitat Studio and released on YouTube on March 24.
The show sparked controversy for Kamra’s parody of the song *Bholi Si Surat* targeting Eknath Shinde. Outraged supporters of the leader vandalized the studio in Khar, and a civic demolition drive soon followed, with BMC citing building law violations—though the timing raised suspicions.
Kamra now faces three police cases over the show, but the Madras High Court has granted him interim protection from arrest. The crackdown has triggered a political storm, with the Opposition accusing the NDA government of stifling free speech, while Maharashtra’s ruling BJP-Shiv Sena coalition defended its stance, asserting that”Irresponsibility under the guise of freedom” will not be accepted.
