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Days after Munawar Faruqui, a comedian who was arrested for "insulting religious sentiments of Hindus" at a cafe in Mumbai, the Indore police on Sunday said there is no video evidence as such against him. 

“There’s no evidence against him for insulting Hindu deities or Union Minister Amit Shah,” Kamlesh Sharma, Indore Town Inspector said. 

Indore police arrested Faruqui and his four associates based on Gaur’s allegations on Friday. Eklavya Singh Gaur, the chief of Hindutva group Hind Rakshak Sangathan, is the son of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Malini Gaur. 

“He is a serial offender and often cracks defamatory jokes on Hindu gods and goddesses,” Gaur said. He also accused Faruqui of making derogatory remarks about Shah, and of allegedly mocking the kar sevaks who were killed in the Godhra massacre of 2002.

Meanwhile, several comedians spoke out against Faruqui’s arrest. “You can’t stop jokes and laughter,” actor and comedian Vir Das tweeted. “Not because comedians are performing it, but because people need to laugh. Harder you try, the more you’re going to be laughed at, now, and by history. Anyone who has ever tried to control humour now has a category of jokes devoted to them.”

He also posted a screenshot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet from 2017, which spoke about the importance of satire and humour. “I’m just going to leave this here,” Das wrote.

Besides Faruqui, four other arrested persons were identified as Nalin Yadav, Prakhar Vyas, Edwin Anthony and Priyam Vyas.

They were booked under sections section 269 (unlawful or negligent act likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and other related provisions of the Indian Penal Act.