In November, just four days before Suraj Pal Amu, the BJP's chief media coordinator at that time, offered a bounty for beheading actor Deepika Padukone, the Haryana police had driven 360 km to arrest a 19-year-old, Shaqib, for posting an offensive image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An NDTV investigation found that in 2017, there were at least seven cases, where the police acted with alacrity to arrest ordinary people for social media posts that are seen as offensive to political or authority figures. When it comes to VIP's however -- politicians, ministers, parliamentarians and legislators -- NDTV found the response is the opposite.

Two days after SP Amu made the incendiary statement, Pawan Kumar, a resident of Gurugram, filed a complaint at the nearby Sector 29 police station, alleging criminal intimidation by the leader. A First Information Report was filed, but 20 days on, there has been no follow-up action by the police.