Bengaluru: Viral video of assault on motorist uncovers false blackmail claims
Bengaluru: A video clip showing a motorist being detained by a group of men, who accused him of blackmailing a woman by fitting a camera in the geyser of her bathroom, has gone viral on social media. However, a police probe into the incident has revealed the allegations to be false.
The video, titled ‘Man fits camera in geyser, blackmails woman’, surfaced on Saturday and shows the men chasing the motorist on a road in Electronic City on Friday night. They blocked his way, detained him, and removed his helmet. In the video, demands for police intervention can also be heard, according to a report by The Times of India.
One of the men is seen grabbing the motorist by the collar and alleging that he had installed a camera in the woman’s bathroom geyser to blackmail her with intimate videos and photos. The woman, appearing to be in her 20s, supported the claim and accused the motorist of blackmailing her. Following this, the group took matters into their own hands, encouraging the woman to slap the motorist with her footwear, which she did.
Onlookers, however, informed the police, who arrived at the scene and took the motorist, the woman, and the group to the police station, where the narrative took an unexpected turn.
The police, sceptical of the claims, questioned the feasibility of a camera functioning inside a geyser due to the heat. The motorist, insisting on his innocence, denied the accusations and called them false.
As inconsistencies in the story emerged, a woman officer was assigned to privately question the woman. During the interrogation, the woman admitted that she had taken her own nude photos and sent them to the motorist during an ongoing affair. When the affair came to light, the woman reportedly tried to protect herself by claiming to her husband and others that the man had obtained her photos without her knowledge and was blackmailing her.
The police asked the woman to file a formal complaint, but she refused. The motorist also declined to lodge a case against the group that had detained him. By midnight, all parties left the station without filing any complaints.
A senior police officer described the incident as "an affair that spiralled out of control."
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I-T Department sends notice to actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran over co-produced films
New Delhi: The Income Tax (I-T) Department has sent a notice to actor and director Prithviraj Sukumaran asking for more details about the money he earned from some films he co-produced. The notice was reportedly served during the last week of March by the I-T office in Kochi. He has been asked to respond by the end of April.
The department is seeking clarification on the income from a few movies Prithviraj was involved in as a co-producer. This comes at a time when the actor has been receiving criticism from right-wing groups over what seemed to be references to the 2002 Gujarat riots in his latest film L2: Empuraan, starring Mohanlal, which released on March 27.
On April 4, 2025, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at the offices of Gokulam Gopalan, a Kerala-based businessman and one of the producers of L2: Empuraan, along with a few others. These searches were part of an investigation into alleged violations of foreign exchange rules.
The I-T notice to Prithviraj is believed to be linked to an ongoing investigation that began in December 2022 into suspected tax evasion within the Malayalam film industry.
At the time, tax officials had raided the homes and offices of several producers, including Antony Perumbavoor, Anto Joseph, and Listin Stephen, over concerns about unreported income, cash deals, and overseas investments. Prithviraj’s premises were also searched during that operation.
