A court in Andhra Pradesh on Friday issued non-bailable arrest warrant against Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni for allegedly hurting sentiments of Hindus by appearing as a deity on a magazine cover, a media report said.
The case against Dhoni, 34, was filed by a VHP leader in Anantapur town for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus while posing as the deity in the cover of Business Today magazine in April, 2013. The magazine’s report titled ‘God of Big Deals’ was on the brand value of the former Test captain.
Dhoni had appeared as Lord Vishnu in a magazine cover holding a shoe in his hands, Hindustan Times reported.
The report said the court of the additional judicial first class magistrate has asked police to produce Dhoni on February 25.
Advocate Gopal Rao, who represented petitioner Yerraguntla Shyamsundar in court, said the court had earlier issued summons to both Dhoni and the magazine editor Chaitanya Kalbag.
“While it is unknown if Kalbag received the summons, an acknowledgment was received from Dhoni. Since he did not appear before the court even after summoned, the court took a serious view and issued non-bailable arrest warrant for Dhoni,” Rao told the newspaper.