Pune, Apr 17 (PTI) Two undergraduate business administration students have landed in legal trouble after they performed a dance to a song allegedly glorifying slain top Naxal commander Madvi Hidma during a cultural event at a government-run hostel in Pune, police have said.
Five days after the event, they have been booked on promoting enmity and other charges, officials said.
Hidma (51), who masterminded several Naxal attacks and large-scale ambushes on security forces over the last two decades and carried a bounty of Rs 1 crore, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Andhra Pradesh in November 2025.
Police said on Thursday that a cultural event was organised by students of the Maharashtra government-run Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Government Hostel for Boys at Vishrantwadi in the city on April 11.
A controversy erupted after a video surfaced on social media showing students dancing to a song allegedly praising the dreaded Maoist leader. Following objections raised by some right-wing activists, police initiated a probe.
After verifying the video and subsequent probe, police have booked two students, aged 22 and 23. The two, hailing from Gadchiroli district in eastern Maharashtra, are pursuing BBA (CA) course at a reputed college in Pune and stay in the hostel.
At the event, they allegedly performed to a song titled ‘O Re Bandook Wale’, which allegedly praises Hidma, according to police.
Hostel authorities sought to downplay the incident, stating the students had selected the song “inadvertently” as they found its beats appealing.
However, police said the matter was under investigation.
“By selecting and performing to a song based on Hidma, a senior Naxal commander of the banned CPI (Maoist) and People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, the students allegedly posed a threat to national integration and sovereignty of India,” an officer from the Vishrantwadi police station said.
The duo was booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 197(1) (promoting enmity between groups), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), and 3(5) (common intention), police added. PTI SPK RSY NR
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