Twitter today suspended singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya's account after he posted a string of "offensive" tweets, especially against women.
The move by the microblogging site came after social media users accused the 58-year-old singer of using "inappropriate" and "insulting" language. "Account Suspended: This account has been suspended...," stated the message from Twitter on his handle.
The singer had received flak on the social media site for a series of inflammatory tweets against journalist Swati Chaturvedi, who had registered a police complaint against him last year in July.
The complaint led to his arrest. On being released on bail, the singer reportedly broke into tears.The regret didn't last long, for the defiant singer later said he would repeat his words if he wished to.
On May 22, Abhijeet spewed venom at some women Twitter users, including JNU student-activist Shehla Rashid, which prompted some of the netizens to lodge a complaint with Twitter. "Sincere thanks to everyone for the support. Abhijeet had to delete his tweet. His Twitter account has also been suspended," Shehla tweeted today.
Abhijeet had previously retweeted about the JNU student, "There is rumour she took money for two hours and didn't satisfy the client... big racket." In another tweet, he had insulted a female Twitter user when she called him out for his incendiary tweets, where he wrote, "You Ms Pak. Tell me your cage no? Will reach there...Will do the favourite pose."
However, it is unclear if the decision taken by Twitter is temporary or permanent. When contacted, Abhijeet told PTI, "Author Arundhati Roy and people supporting JNU" were behind the suspension of his account. "Yes, I just saw it. They are trying to block Paresh Rawal also. All Arundhati and JNU group behind this after Paresh Rawal and I tweeted against Arundhati for her anti- India stand," he said.
BJP MP-actor Paresh Rawal kicked up a row with his remark that author Roy should be tied to an army jeep instead of a stone pelter, a reference to an incident in Kashmir where a protester was used as a "human shield" by security personnel against a mob. Asked if he would take any step to reinstate his Twitter handle, Abhijeet said, "I (don't) care a damn... entire nation is with me.
This is not the first time Abhijeet has gotten into trouble for his tweets. In the past few years, the only reason he has made it to headlines is that of his offensive tweets where he insults women and minorities in the name of apparently taking a pro-India and nationalist stand.
Back in September-November 2016 during the Bollywood film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil-Pakistani artists controversy following the Uri attacks, Abhijeet rose from the dead and went on a Twitter rant against Ae Dil Hai Mushkil director and producer Karan Johar for casting actor Fawad Khan in his film. He even questioned the loyalty of Khans.
Another incident, when Abhijeet's support for Salman Khan went wrong. In 2015, when Salman got sentenced to serving five years in prison because of 2002 hit-and-run case, Abhijeet came forward to tweet in support of bhai in the most shameful manner possible.
(With input from PTI)