Urdu poet Munawwar Rana was on Monday named in a first information report in Madhya Pradesh after a Bharatiya Janata Party leader accused him of comparing sage Valmiki to terror group Taliban, PTI reported.

Sunil Malviya, who is the secretary of the saffron party’s Scheduled Caste Cell in Madhya Pradesh, had complained to the police about a remark that the poet had made while speaking to a television channel. He alleged that Rana had hurt the sentiments of members of the Valmiki community.

Videos of Rana’s comment are available on Twitter but Scroll.in has not independently verified their authenticity.

The anchor of the Hindi show asked Rana if he viewed the the Taliban, who have now taken over Afghanistan, as terrorists.

In response, the poet said: “So far, they are terrorists. But the thing is, after Valmiki wrote the Ramayana, he became a “devta” [deity]. Before that, he was a dacoit. A person’s character keeps changing.”

When the anchor also accused him of making a comparison between Valmiki and the Taliban, the poet said: “You may call Valmiki a God, but he was a writer. One has to dig up his past. He wrote the Ramayana, it was a huge task. I am not talking of a comparison.”

Guna Superintendent of Police Rajiv Mishra said the case against Rana was filed under Section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, PTI reported. “The case will be forwarded to the district concerned [Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh where the poet reportedly made the remark].”

In Lucknow, another FIR had been filed against the poet on Friday for the same remark, according to PTI.