Kangana Ranaut Faces Police Case Over "Mysterious Foreigner" X Post On Sonia Gandhi

A police case has been filed against BJP MP and actor Kangana Ranaut in Himachal Pradesh over her social media posts targeting the Gandhi family.

The case was filed based on a complaint by Atul Sharma, a resident of Shimla, who alleged that her posts contained inflammatory remarks on the deaths of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and the former's other son Sanjay Gandhi.

The police have invoked sections 196 (promoting enmity), 353 (statements leading to public mischief), and 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in the FIR.

Shimla Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh confirmed the registration of the FIR on Friday and said further investigation was underway.

According to the complainant, Ranaut had published the controversial posts from her verified social media account on Tuesday (November 10).

Sharma alleged that the posts attempted to cast suspicion on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi through provocative insinuations. He had approached the Director General of Police (DGP) through an email, seeking the immediate registration of an FIR and a time-bound cyber-forensic probe into the posts.

One of the posts from Ranaut's handle referred to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi as a "mysterious foreign national" and suggested that her relatives were killed one after another, eventually paving the way for her to become the head of government. The post reportedly ended with the remark, "How convenient."

The complaint also referred to Ranaut's claim that after Sanjay Gandhi's death, his wife Maneka Gandhi was "thrown out" from the family residence.

Sharma alleged that the posts went beyond political criticism and amounted to a calculated attempt to spread inflammatory narratives. He claimed that the content could provoke public hostility, disturb public peace and promote enmity between different groups.

The complainant further alleged that the posts circulated misleading information capable of undermining communal harmony and national integration.

The police have initiated an investigation into the allegations.