Police in Hubballi registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) MP from the state Pralhad Joshi on Saturday for making a communal remark in a speech.
"We have registered an FIR under Section 153 (of the Indian Penal Code) on Saturday against Joshi for his speech in which he allegedly compared a locality in Hubballi, Sadar Sofa with Pakistan," Additional Commissioner of Police N.B. Sakri told IANS.
The case was registered based on a complaint by a man from the Sadar Sofa locality -- which has several mosques -- who said that Joshi's remarks cause communal disharmony by attacking one religion, Sakri added.
Dharwad MP Joshi, 55, had reportedly also said in his speech on Friday in Hubballi that several mosques "illegally store weapons". Jafersab Khazi and Mahmad Hanif Hullapadi, office bearers of Masjid Jamat in Saidar Street made the allegation and added that "statements like these can spread hatred in society".
An inquiry into Joshi's statements was underway, police added.
The case comes days after Joshi landed himself in hot water after he wrongly translated party president Amit Shah's speech from Hindi to Kannada and claimed that "Narendra Modi will not do anything for the poor and Dalits".
A video of the mis-translation was aired by Times Now and ends abruptly after the first line of Joshi's translation.
The gaffe came during Shah's address in Davangere when he inadvertently called out BJP's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa's government in Karnataka for being number 1 in corruption.
This is not the first time BJP leaders have been booked for communally sensitive statements. In December 2017, police in Honnavara in Uttara Kannada registered an FIR against BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje for allegedly spreading enmity between communities.
The statements by the BJP leader had come to light soon after the mysterious death of Paresh Mesta that had sparked off communal tension in Uttara Kannada.