Aamir Khan deepfake video: Mumbai Police register FIR against unidentified person
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against an unidentified person in connection with a deepfake video of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan in which he is purportedly seen promoting a political party, an official said.
The FIR was filed on Wednesday at the Khar police station following a complaint by Khan's office under relevant Indian Penal Code sections, including 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, the official said.
In the purported 27-second clip, which seems to have been edited using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Khan can be seen talking about staying away from rhetoric (jumla).
The deepfake video shows the actor purportedly in a scene from a decade-old episode of his television show, 'Satyamev Jayate'.
A spokesperson for Khan on Tuesday said while the actor in the past raised electoral awareness through Election Commission campaigns, he never promoted any political party.
"We want to clarify that Mr Aamir Khan has never endorsed any political party throughout his 35-year career. He has dedicated his efforts to raising awareness through Election Commission public awareness campaigns for many past elections," the spokesperson said in a statement.
"We are alarmed by the recent viral video alleging that Aamir Khan is promoting a particular political party. He would like to clarify that this is a fake video and totally untrue. He has reported the matter to various authorities related to this issue, including filing an FIR with the Cyber Crime Cell of the Mumbai Police," the statement said.
The "Laal Singh Chaddha" actor has also appealed to people to come out and vote and be an active part of the electoral process, his spokesperson added.
The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.
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Deve Gowda planned escape of his grandson Prajwal, says Siddaramaiah
Yadgir (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday alleged that former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda planned the escape of his grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna abroad.
Prajwal is accused in an alleged sex scandal which is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Karnataka government. He is believed to have escaped to Germany shortly after polling in the first phase of elections in the state got over on April 26, in which Prajwal was the JD(S)-BJP combine's candidate from Hassan.
“Who gives passport and visa for travelling abroad? It’s the Centre. Can he go without the Centre’s knowledge? It was former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who planned and sent him abroad,” the Chief Minister told reporters.
He was replying to a query on BJP’s allegation that the state government allowed him to escape.
The Chief Minister also slammed Home Minister Amit Shah and asked why his party gave ticket to its alliance partner candidate if BJP was pro "Matru Shakti" (women power).
The SIT headed by Additional Director General of Police B K Singh was formed after a huge cache of explicit videos, allegedly featuring Prajwal, went viral on social media. The team has two other IPS officers of SP rank.
Gowda’s son and former minister H D Revanna and his son Prajwal are facing sexual harassment allegations after a case was registered against them.
On Amit Shah’s statement that his party "respected Matru aur Nari Shakti", Siddaramaiah sought to know why it gave Prajwal a ticket when it had information about his videos beforehand.
“Why did BJP give ticket to him if it was ‘Pro-Matru-Shakti’? When they were aware of the video why the ticket was given to him? Why did they form an alliance when they knew that there were such videos? What does it mean? What does it indicate? Please explain to me,” the Chief Minister said.
He also ruled out his deputy D K Shivakumar’s involvement in leaking the videos as has been alleged by JD(S) second-in-command H D Kumaraswamy.
“Kumaraswamy says that these videos were leaked. Karthik is Prajwal Revanna’s driver. He has said he gave it (pen drive comprising videos and photos) to BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda. Did he say that he gave it to D K Shivakumar? How can he (Kumaraswamy) say that D K Shivakumar released it,” Siddaramaiah said.
He underlined that Devaraje Gowda had said that he received it but denied releasing it.
“If such is the case then, who released it (videos)? Whom did he give the pen drive to? D K Shivakumar has no connection with this case,” the Chief Minister said.
He asked reporters to wait for the outcome of the investigation into the case.
He said the investigation will be transparent and his party will not interfere with the SIT or its probe.
