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Nathuram Godse shot Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948
A leader of a fringe Hindu right-wing group in India has been arrested after a video of her shooting an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi went viral.
The Hindu Mahasabha had organised an event to “celebrate” the 71st anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination.
In the video, Pooja Pandey garlands a picture of Nathuram Godse, the man who shot Gandhi, and then shoots the effigy with an air pistol.
Gandhi was always seen as “too moderate” by some rightwing Hindus.
Ms Pandey had been on the run following increasing calls for her arrest.
Two police teams were deployed to track Ms Pandey and her husband, who also features prominently in the video.
They had already made several other arrests in connection with the video which was shot on 30 January – the day Gandhi was killed.
“We arrested nine people within a week and are searching for two more suspects in the case,” police officer Neeraj Jadaun told the BBC.
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Godse, who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point-blank range on 30 January 1948, was an activist with nationalist right-wing groups, including the Hindu Mahasabha.
This is not the first time that the controversial fringe group has tried to glorify Godse and celebrate Gandhi’s assassination.
In 2015, the group announced plans to install statues of Godse across six districts in the southern state of Karnataka, sparking protests across the state.