Rs 10-crore bounty to behead Bhansali, Deepika: BJP orders its leader who made offer to apologise

The BJP leader who offered a Rs 10-crore bounty to anybody who beheaded Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone, who plays the title role in the film, has been ordered by his party to apologise.

Reuters reported that Sural Pal Amu, the Harayana BJP's media coordinator has been ordered to apologise.

PTI reported that the BJP had issued a show-cause notice to Amu.

The offer of a bounty -- of Rs 5 crore -- had originally been made by a man from Meerut called Thakur Abhishek Som.

Amu doubled the offer to Rs 10 crore during an Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha function in New Delhi on Sunday.

ANI reported him as saying: "Want to congratulate Meerut youth for announcing Rs 5 crore bounty for beheading Deepika, Bhansali, We will reward the ones beheading them with Rs 10 crore, and also take care of their family's needs."

Amu reportedly also threatened to break actor Ranveer Singh's legs if he did not take back his words of support for the film and its director.

Singh plays Allaudin Khalji in the film.

There have been massive protests against the release of the film Padmavati.

Rajput and Hindu groups say the film distorts history, and depicts a Muslim invader (Allaudi Khalji, sultan of Delhi) as the hero, and the Rana of Chittor and his queen (Padmavati) as victims.

The movie's makers have finally decided to delay the release of the film "voluntarily".

Historians however say that Padmavati never existed. She was not ahistorical figure but a literary character.

They point out that Khalji invaded and defeated Chittor in 1303 -- but that the first mention of Padmavati is made in a book of poems written in 1520 by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi.

There is no record of her having existed before that.