Bhubaneswar, March 3 The Commissionerate Police have arrested two persons, including the owner of a tattoo shop and the artist working there, who etched a tattoo on the thigh of a foreign woman, that has triggered outrage in Odisha.
Speaking to media persons about the incident, ACP (Zone-5), Biswaranjan Senapati, on Sunday said that one Subrat Kumar Mohanty of Bhubaneswar along with his friends in the evening filed a complaint at the Saheed Nagar police station, alleging that the owner of a studio 'Rocky Tattoos' located in Saheed Nagar area has shared photograph of a foreign woman with a tattoo of Lord Jagannath on her thigh on social media.
He also added that as it is a sensitive issue and the incident has hurt the religious sentiments of the complainants, they have urged the police to take strict action against Rocky Ranjan Bisoi, the owner of the studio.
"During investigation into the allegations, we came to know that on Saturday, one foreign woman had come to the Rocky Tattoos studio to have a tattoo done. Later, an artist there, following the instructions of Rocky, etched the tattoo on the thigh of the foreigner. Rocky conducted a photoshoot of the foreigner and posted those photos on his WhatsApp status," ACP Senapati added.
He also noted that the complainants after noticing the photos on WhatsApp status of Rocky lodged a complaint with the police.
"We have arrested both Rocky and his artist Aswini Kumar Pradhan, who will be brought to court on Tuesday. They have been booked under Sections 299 (outrage religious feelings of any class), 196 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)," Senapati added.
The ACP also clarified that police will question the foreign woman to ascertain the reasons for etching the tattoo.
However, he denied taking any action against the woman as it seems she wasn't aware about the laws and traditions of Lord Jagannath.
Both the foreign woman and Rocky have already sought apology for the incident in two separate videos assuring to remove the tattoo at the earliest.
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