Why should I alone be blamed, asks Kiku

Actor Kiku Sharda, who was arrested for impersonating godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, believes that it was incorrect to "solely" blame him for the act.

"It was a dance performance. We had a choreographer. If we knew it's going to hurt sentiments, it could have been avoided. Maybe my knowledge was less, I wasn't sure that it would become this big. It could've been shot and edited. Why should I be solely blamed?" Kiku said in an interview to news channel CNN IBN.

Kiku was booked and arrested by Haryana Police following a complaint that he spoofed Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of Dera Sacha Sauda sect. He was sent to 14 days' judicial custody on Wednesday by a court in Haryana's Kaithal town, hours after his arrest here.

The "Comedy Nights With Kapil" star was on Wednesday evening released on a surety bond of Rs.1 lakh by the Kaithal court.  However, he was arrested again by Haryana Police, this time from Fatehabad district (near Hisar), for the same offence.

He is likely to be presented before a Fatehabad court on Thursday. The actor feels if he had received the court summons in advance, "things would have been different".

"On the day of my shoot in Mumbai, where I was shooting for 'Comedy Nights With Kapil'...the cops come and tell me that there is a warrant and we need to move and go to another city in another state so, that is too sudden and harsh. If I had received the summons before, things would have been different," he said.

Kiku was accused by sect follower Uday Singh of dressing up like Gurmeet Ram Rahim and mimicking the self-proclaimed godman.

"In the show ('Jashn-E-Ummeed'), he (Kiku) was shown dressed up like our respected guruji. He was shown with liquor and dancing with two girls. He did a mockery of guruji. Whosoever saw it, their feelings were hurt," Uday Singh told media persons.

The show, in which Kiku dressed up like the sect chief, was aired on December 27.