Bollywood Singer Badshah paid Rs 75 lakh for fake social media likes, followers

Mumbai: Continuing its probe into the sensational social media racket linked to creating fake ‘followers and likes’, busted last month, the Mumbai Police has investigated at least 20 prominent personalities including rapper Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, alias Badshah, official sources said here on Saturday.

After a 10-hour long interrogation by the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) on Friday, Badshah has reportedly admitted to shelling out over Rs. 75 lakh for promoting his music album with fake likes and followers.

He was questioned again on Saturday and is likely to be summoned again on Sunday for other related aspects of the probe, said the sources.

The developments came after the Mumbai Police bust the sensational scam on July 14 through analytical technical-intelligence and nabbed one person, following a complaint lodged by Bollywood playback singer Bhumi Trivedi.

Probing Trivedi’s July 11 complaint that some persons had created her fake Instagram profile and were approaching other celebrities in the entertainment industry with similar offers, the CIU got cracking to expose the mega-scam with international ramifications.

The police are investigating at least 100 Social Media Marketing (SMM) firms and 54 portals all over India, which offer services of generating fake profiles, likes, comments, followers, etc, through fake IDs or bots, on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc, with the alleged ‘followers’ also being used to create social panic through rumours.

(IANS)

Update

Badshah denies involvement in fake social media followers scam

Rapper Badshah has denied any involvement in the fake social media followers scam, which is being investigated by the Mumbai Police.

The rapper issued a statement on Saturday evening, where he mentioned that he has categorically denied all allegations levelled against him while speaking to the police.

“Following the summons, I have spoken to the Mumbai Police. I have aided the officials in their investigation by cooperating and carrying out the due diligence on my part. I have categorically denied all the allegations levelled against me and made it clear that I was never involved in such practices, nor do I condone them. The investigation procedure is being executed in accordance with the law and I have complete faith in the authorities, who are handling this matter. I would like to thank all those who have conveyed their concern to me. It means a lot to me,” reads the statement issued by Badshah.

The rapper’s clarification comes in the wake of a 10-hour long interrogation by the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) on Friday regarding allegedly promoting his music album with fake likes and followers. Badshah was questioned again on Saturday. The rapper is likely to be summoned again on Sunday for other related aspects of the probe, as per sources.

Till date, the Mumbai Police has investigated at least 20 prominent personalities.

The developments came after the Mumbai Police busted the scam on July 14 through analytical technical-intelligence and nabbed one person, following a complaint lodged by Bollywood playback singer Bhoomi Trivedi.

(IANS)