In a spot of truly bizarre reporting, a Pakistan-based TV channel has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Security Advisor Ajit Doval are behind the death of actor Om Puri, who died last week of a heart attack at the age of 66.
Aamir Liaqat, the host of a news show on Bol TV, told his audience that Modi and Doval murdered Puri for several reasons including his backing of Pakistani artistes, his "fondness" for Pakistan, and his "interest" in Islam. "Om Puri was murdered," he said on the show Aisay Nahin Chalega. "Doval, the right hand man of Modi, is doing such work. Modi is a dirty man and his work is very dirty."
Liaqat then showed a clip of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lashing out at Modi. The anchor also claimed that Modi had harbored a grudge against Puri because he had acted in the movie Dev which was based on the 2002 Gujarat Riots, when Modi was chief minister of the state.
Doval and another agent entered Puri's house and killed him either by strangling the actor or suffocating him a with a pillow, Liaqat said. The anchor also claimed that alcohol was forcibly poured into his mouth before he was strangled.
Liaqat told his audience that a week before Puri died, Doval had summoned the actor to his office and abused him, and told him to go to the village of Nitin Yadav, a soldier who was killed in the Uri terrorist attack, and apologize. He also said that Puri was stripped naked and beaten.
The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and Shiv Sena also backed the plan, Liaqat claimed. Fawad Khan and Salman Khan are next on Doval's hit list, the Pakistani channel claimed.
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