17 more individuals are expected to be questioned in connection with the case of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s deepfake video. Sources within the Delhi Police revealed on Wednesday that notices have been served to the Congress’ Jharkhand president and social media in-charge as part of the ongoing probe.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police initiated action on Sunday by registering an FIR following a complaint from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), a body under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The complaint highlighted the dissemination of a doctored video portraying Shah advocating for the abolition of all reservations, a distortion of his original remarks pertaining to quota policies in Telangana.
In a recent development, Gujarat police detained a Congress leader and an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) functionary in connection with the case. The arrested individuals, identified as Satish Vansola from Palanpur in Banaskantha and Rakesh Baria from Limkheda town in Dahod district, were apprehended by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Vansola has served as the Personal Assistant (PA) to Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani for six years, while Baria held the position of AAP’s Dahod district president for four years.
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Furthermore, a Youth Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district was interrogated by a team from Delhi Police’s special cell. Umashankar Patel, District Convenor of Youth Congress IT Cell, admitted to sharing an edited version of the video on social media, claiming ignorance about its authenticity. Patel promptly deleted the post upon being cautioned about potential legal ramifications.
In a separate incident, a Congress functionary from Assam, identified as 31-year-old Reetam Singh, was arrested in Guwahati. Singh, associated with the Assam Congress and serving as the party’s ‘War Room Coordinator,’ was apprehended in connection with the deep fake video case.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has summoned Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader Revanth Reddy, requesting his presence before the Cyber Unit on May 1, along with his mobile phone, for further inquiry into the matter.
