Kunal Kamra row: Who is Rahool Kanal, Shiv Sena leader who ransacked Mumbai show venue, threatened the comedian?

The Mumbai Police on Monday arrested Shiv Sena functionary Rahool Kanal and 11 accomplices for vandalising the premises at a Mumbai hotel where stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra delivered the controversial “traitor” remark against Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. A local court, however, granted them bail the same day.

During his performance at the Habitat Comedy Club at the Unicontinental hotel in Khar area, Kunal Kamra had referred to Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, as a “gaddar” (traitor) and went on to sing a parody of him.

Enraged over the comments, Shiv Sena workers led by Rahool Kanal ransacked the venue of Kunal Kamra’s show on Sunday.

The Khar Police has identified 19 people and named them in the FIR filed in connection with the incident. Also, 15 to 20 persons involved in the ransacking of the venue remain unidentified.

Police arrested 12 people, including Rahool Kanal – all affiliated to the Shinde-led Sena – earlier on Monday and produced them before the magistrate’s court in Bandra.

The court remanded the accused to 14-day judicial custody following which they applied for bail. The magistrate allowed their plea and released them on a cash bond of ₹15,000.

Meanwhile, Rahool Kanal issued a strong issued to Kunal Kamra, saying “Abhi tak toh ye trailer hai, picture abhi baqi hai”.

“It is not about taking any law in your hands. It is purely about your self-respect. When it comes to elders or respectable citizens of the country… when your elders are targeted, you will target someone of that mentality… The message (for Kunal Kamra) is clear, ‘Abhi tak toh ye trailer hai, picture abhi baqi hai.’ Whenever you are in Mumbai, you will get a good lesson in Shiv Sena style,” news agency ANI quoted Kanal as saying.

After an FIR was registered against him and his party workers, Kanal said that they would teach Kunal Kamra a lesson.

“We had complained, we had also called the owner (of Habitat set) and told him that there had been 6 FIR against this place in the past… Our message for Kunal Kamra is that we will teach him a lesson for what he did, but this is a paid conspiracy, and the Mumbai police is capable of exposing it,” he added.

According to sub inspector Vijay of Khar police station, the Shinde Sena’s youth faction entered the venue while a live show of standup comedian Rajat Sood was going on and forced the show to be closed down and vandalised the set.

Who is Rahool Kanal?

Rahool Kanal was a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and was associated with the Shiv Sena’s youth wing, Yuva Sena.

However, in July 2023, Kanal switched sides and joined the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde. Since then, he has been actively involved in the Shinde faction’s political activities.

A popular face in Bandra, Kanal is a restaurateur and a known name among Bollywood circles.

Kanal owns Bandra’s Bhaijaanz restaurant which was named after Salman Khan.

He also runs NGO ‘I Love Mumbai’. He was a trustee of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust.

Kanal’s association with Sena (undivided) started with Yuva Sena, and for the past 10 years, he had been with Yuva Sena led by Aaditya Thackeray.