On January 5, 2022, the Pune police announced that they had taken Hindu seer Kalicharan Maharaj into custody from their Raipur counterparts in connection with a case involving alleged provocative remarks filed against him and five others in Maharashtra. The religious leader was being transported to Pune, where he will be produced in court later in the day, officials said, following a transit remand granted by a court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. "We have taken custody of Kalicharan from the Chhattisgarh Police and are transporting him to Pune," a police official from Khadak stated. The Pune police had filed a complaint against Kalicharan Maharaj, right-wing leader Milind Ekbote, retired Captain Digendra Kumar, and others for allegedly delivering inflammatory comments and injuring religious sensibilities during an event here. The ceremony, dubbed 'Shiv Pratap Din,' was held on December 19, 2021 by Ekbote-led Hindu Aghadi to commemorate the assassination of Mughal commander Afzal Khan by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Later, at Khadak police station, a case was filed against the seer and others under IPC Sections 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious intention to outrage religious feelings of any class), 298 (deliberate intention to wound religious feelings of any person), and 505 (2) (deliberate intention to wound religious feelings of any person) (false statement, rumor made in place of worship, etc, with intent to create enmity, hatred or ill-will). According to the FIR, all of the defendants allegedly made inflammatory comments with the goal of hurting Muslim and Christian religious emotions and causing a communal split. Kalicharan Maharaj is now facing criminal charges in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra for allegedly making disrespectful statements about Mahatma Gandhi at a Raipur event. In connection with that case, he was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police last week in Madhya Pradesh.