The protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming movie ‘Padmavati’ turned ugly Friday as a dead body was found hanging outside Nahargarh Fort, 20km away from Jaipur.

Anti-‘Padmavati’ slogans were found inscribed on the rocks, one of which read ‘Padmavati ka virodh (Opposing Padmavati),’ while another read ‘Hum putle nahi jalate, latkate hain (we don’t burn effigies, we kill).’

Officials from the Brahmapuri, who are investigating the case, could not ascertain whether it was a case of murder or suicide. The identity of the deceased also remains to be anonymous so far.

“This is not our way of protest. I want to tell people not to resort to such methods.”

Even the firebrand fringe group Rajuput Karni Sena that is spearheading the movement against the release of the movie has condemned the incident. A member of the group Mahipal Singh Makrana distanced his outfit from any involvement in this unfortunate event.

The Karni Sena had recently threatened to chop off actress Deepika Padukone’s nose, who is playing the titular lead actress in the movie. Senior BJP leader from Haryana, Suraj Pal Amu even went on to place a bounty of Rs 10 crore on Deepika’s head publicly. 

READ: “‘Padmavati’ is like my baby” — Shahid Kapoor

The opposition comes amid rumours of a romantic angle between Padmavati and Allauddin Khilji (to be played by Ranveer Singh) in the movie. According to the Rajput groups, this is a ‘distortion’ of history even as Bhansali denied the presence of such a sequence in the movie. 

The liberals have argued that Padmavati was a fictional character and there is no need to incite violence in her name. The Delhi HC had also rejected a plea for an expert panel on the film as Karni Sena burns effigies of SLB in the National Capital. 

The movie, which also stars Shahid Kapoor, was slated to release on December 1, but the protests have forced the producers to defer it indefinitely.