Barun Kashyap

Film executive

Assam

Devendra Fadnavis

AAP

Two months after claiming harassment by an auto driver over his office bag,sings a different tune during custodial interrogation; political conspiracy angle being probed too.Barun Kashyap, who sparked a huge controversy in August after claiming that an auto driver bullied him accusing him of using a bag made of cowhide, spun a web of lies to disrupt communal harmony in Mumbai.This sensational revelation came during Kashyap’s interrogation in police custody. In a confessional statement, Mirror accessed a copy, the creative director with a media house said his ‘hatred for Hindus’ prompted him to come up with the story.“I accept that I lied about the entire incident. No such incident ever took place. My Facebook post was a lie,” reads the statement. To questions by cops about the reason for such a bluff, the 24-year-old said, “I lied because have hatred towards Hindus.”According to the police, Kashyap’s intention was to play victim to gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) and share his ‘plight’ to disrupt communal harmony in Mumbai as well as across the country.In a complaint to the D N Nagar police on August 19, Kashyap, who lives opposite the Infinity Mall in Andheri, said he boarded an auto for his office around 11 am. During the commute, the professional said, the driver said his leather bag was stinking and asked if it was made of cowhide.Despite telling that it was camel skin, the autowallah stopped the three-wheeler at some place and returned with three men who heckled him, Kashyap alleged. “Aaj toh bach gaye [you were saved today],” he told the cops quoting the men.The film executive, who hails from, also narrated the incident in a Facebook post, raising a storm and putting immense pressure on the government to act. Chief Ministerhad then said that the culprits won’t be spared.As the police began to investigate Kashyap’s allegations, they found that the film executive left home at 1 pm, not 11 am as claimed by him, and took nine minutes to reach his office. “We collected footage of CCTV cameras installed on the entire stretch. We discovered that it was a smooth ride and the auto did not stop even for a minute. It was beyond doubt that he had lied to us. That is why we registered a case against him,” said Deven Bharti, joint commissioner of police (law and order).The police are also probing if Kashyap’s allegations were part of a political conspiracy. “The fact that after the case was registered against Barun, he approached Aam Aadmi Party leader Priti Sharma Menon and stayed at her Chembur home for two days indicates a lot of things. The question is why he approached a political party for legal assistance. Was this a pre-planned agenda,” asked a senior police officer.The Amboli police, which probed the case, are likely to file the charge sheet in a few days, said sources. Kashyap, who was arrested on October 4 and is currently lodged in Arthur Road prison, has been booked under section 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 182B (for use of lawful power of a public servant to injure or annoy any person) of the Indian Penal Code.If convicted by a court, he can face jail up to five years. Sources said the cops will also record the statement of theleader.