'Tandav' row: UP Police reaches Ali Abbas Zafar's residence, asks him to appear on Jan 27

A four-member team of Uttar Pradesh Police arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday to conduct a probe into a case registered in Lucknow against controversial web series Tandav. They reached director Ali Abbas Zafar's residence on Thursday but the police informed that his house was locked.

In an interaction with media, the UP Police informed that they have pasted the notice on his door and have asked him to appear before the Investigation Officer on January 27 in Lucknow. According to the reports, Ali Abbas Zafar is in Dehradun with family currently.

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The Amazon Prime Video's series has been accused of hurting religious sentiments for its depiction of Hindu deities. The UP Police personnel reached Mumbai on Wednesday morning and visited the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection-1) in suburban Andheri for assistance. Two members of the UP Police team also visited the Mumbai Police headquarters in south Mumbai in the afternoon.

Tandav, a nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, started streaming last week. At the centre of the row is a scene with Zeeshan Ayyub, in the role of college student Shiva, playing the Hindu god Mahadev in a theatre production.

As the controversy escalated, the show makers on Tuesday tried to defuse the situation by announcing their decision to remove the controversial portion from the show. The cast and crew of the show on Tuesday also said they had decided to implement changes to "address concerns". In their second apology statement in two days, the show's team also thanked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for its "guidance & support" in the matter. 

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(With agency inputs)