Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajasthan leader Gyan Dev Ahuja was recorded on video urging a crowd to kill persons involved in cow slaughter. He is also heard saying that his supporters have so far “lynched five persons”.

The minute-long clip was shared by Congress’ Rajasthan unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra. “What more proof is needed of BJP’s religious terror and bigotry?” Dotasra wrote on Twitter. “The real face of BJP has come to the fore in the entire country.”

Ahuja was booked on Saturday under Indian Penal Code Section 153A for spreading communal disharmony, NDTV reported.

In the video, former MLA Ahuja is seen interrupting a speaker, who was urging local members to launch an agitation against the lynching of 45-year-old Chiranjilal Saini, PTI reported.

Saini, a vegetable vendor, was beaten to death on August 14 by a mob of over 20 persons in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on suspicion of stealing a tractor. Saini was taken to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur, where he succumbed to his injuries.

“We have so far lynched five people, be it in Lalawandi or Behror,” Ahuja said in the video, PTI reported. “This has happened for the first time in this area that they have lynched someone.”

He added, “I have given free hand to workers to kill. We will get them acquitted and secure bail.”

Ahuja was referring to the lynching of Rakbar Khan in 2018 at Lalawadni and that of Pehlu Khan in 2018 in Behror. Both were beaten to death by self-styled cow vigilantes on the allegations of smuggling cattle.

When PTI contacted Ahuja to clarify his statement, he reiterated that anyone involved in cow smuggling and slaughter will not be spared.

Ahuja also said he made the remarks while sitting next to a local Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader.

Meanwhile, the BJP has distanced itself from Ahuja’s statement.

BJP’s Alwar (South) chief Sanjay Singh Naruka told PTI that the party “does not have this thinking”.