The High Grounds police in Bengaluru have registered a case against Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh following a complaint alleging “insult to religious sentiments” during a public event, police said on Thursday.

The first information report (FIR) was registered on Wednesday based on a complaint filed by Prashanth Methal (46), a Bengaluru-based lawyer, after an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACJM) court referred the private complaint for investigation, news agency PTI reported.

The actor has been booked under Sections 196, 299 and 302 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

According to the complaint, the incident occurred during the closing ceremony of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), held in Goa on November 28, 2025.

The complainant stated that Ranveer Singh, while on stage and in the presence of the lead actor of Kantara: Chapter 1, allegedly performed acts that mocked and insulted the sacred Bhoota Kola tradition practiced in Coastal Karnataka.

Methal said he is a devotee of Chavundi Daiva, a revered guardian spirit worshipped in Bhoota Kola rituals, and that the deity is also his family deity, which he has worshipped since childhood.

He alleged that the actor imitated the divine expressions of Panjurli/Guliga Daiva in a “crude, comical and derogatory manner” and verbally referred to the sacred Chavundi Daiva as a “female ghost”. Despite an alleged request not to perform the Daiva act, the accused enacted an emotional Chavundi Daiva scene from Kantara: Chapter 1 on stage, the lawyer said.

“Chavundi Daiva is not a female ghost but a powerful and fierce guardian spirit symbolising justice, protection, and divine feminine energy, and holds deep religious and cultural significance in the coastal region,” Methal said in his complaint.

Referring to the deity as a ghost was described in the complaint as “blasphemous and a serious insult to Hindu religious beliefs and practices.” The complainant alleged that the actor, being a widely followed public figure, performed the act on an international platform with knowledge that it would hurt the religious sentiments of devotees.

The complaint further stated that a video of the alleged performance went viral on social media, causing grave mental agony, anger and resentment among devotees.

Methal said he became aware of the incident after viewing the video on social media.

“The act of the accused was deliberate, intentional and malicious, intended to outrage religious feelings,” the complainant alleged.

Police said further investigation is under way.