Mumbai, Jan. 13: A comic actor who shot to fame through Kapil Sharma's Comedy Nights with Kapil was arrested today over a spoof he did on Dera Sacha Sauda leader Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim on another TV show.

Kiku Sharda, picked up by a police team from Haryana where Rahim is based, has been booked under Section 295A of the IPC for "outraging the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief".

Sharda, 40, was flown to Haryana's Kaithal but got bail within hours of a 14-day remand order, after Rahim tweeted that "there is no complaint from my side, if he has apologised". But Sharda was held again a little later in Fatehabad in connection with another case, according to PTI. Sharda had apologised a day after the show.

In Mumbai, Sharda had been shooting for the last episode of Comedy Nights with Kapil, stars Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur and others before his arrest. Sharda had done the comic act on Rahim on Jashn E Ummeed, a Zee TV show, on December 27, dressed as the Dera chief with his trademark long hair, beard and dark shades and dancing with women holding a bottle.

The show had angered Rahim's followers, who laid siege to the Fatehabad police station on December 28. One of them filed a case against Sharda on December 31.

Rahim too has starred in two movies, MSG: The Messenger of God and a sequel, where he plays himself.

While being taken away by the police today, Sharda said he had merely "presented the programme on the directions of the channel and the producer".

"I'm an artist who is given a role, a get-up, a dialogue and told what to do. I've already tweeted an apology. I didn't want to hurt anyone's sentiments. But why am I being targeted - is it because I am a small-time actor? Why is no action taken against the producer or the scriptwriter or even the channel?" Sharda had said after the case was filed.

Kapil urged Rahim to "support an artiste working to spread happiness".