Bucharest: Andrew Tate, a divisive social media personality and former professional kickboxer, was detained in Romania late Thursday on charges of human trafficking and rape, according to local media reports.

Tate, a British-US citizen who previously was banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech, was reportedly detained along with his brother Tristan in the Ilfov area north of Romania's capital, Bucharest.

Romania's anti-organised crime agency said in a statement late that four suspects, including two British citizens and two Romanians, were arrested on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The agency, DIICOT, said the British citizens recruited women who were subjected to "acts of physical violence and mental coercion," sexually exploited by group members and forced to perform in pornography intended to reap "important financial benefits."

The statement did not name the Tate brothers. Photographs published by Romanian media outlets pictured Tate being led away in handcuffs by masked law enforcement officers.

DIICOT said it identified six people who were sexually exploited by the organised criminal group, and that five homes were raided on Thursday. The suspects were detained for 24 hours.

Earlier this week, Tate posted a video on Twitter of a mountainous region of Romania, the Eastern European country where he is reported to have lived for the last five years.

Tate also was embroiled this week in a war of words with 19-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg after he shared a picture of himself standing next to a Bugatti on Twitter and bragged that he owned 33 cars.

Video footage from the police raid accompanying the anti-organised crime agency's statement shows several blurred-out sports cars, wads of cash, and a handgun.

On Wednesday, the British national was told to “get a life” by Thunberg on Twitter after he told her he owned 33 cars with "enormous emissions."

It all began when Tate, a self-described misogynist, bragged about owning “33 cars” and said he is happy to share details about the “enormous emissions” of his cars. Tagging Greta Thunberg, he asked for her email address.

Thunberg, 19, clapped back with a savage reply that became hugely viral. “Yes, please do enlighten me,” she tweeted in response, adding a made-up email address to mock Tate. The fake address ends with “get a life”.

The interaction did not end there. Tate, in turn, shared his response in a video. The two-minute clip has him speaking, wearing a robe and holding a cigar. At one point, he is seen collecting two pizza boxes from someone and placing them on the table.

The boxes, from Jerry’s Pizza – which has outlets in Romania – are suspected to have helped the Romanian authorities track down Andrew Tate, according to several reports.

 

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Belagavi (Karnataka), Nov 28: A CCTV footage of a nurse being attacked by a man inside a private hospital in Karnataka went viral on social media platforms on Thursday.

The incident, reported to have occurred on October 30, was captured on CCTV camera of the hospital in which the man who has been identified as Prakash Jadhav was seen attacking the nurse with a machete he was hiding in his bag.

The video clip shows the person entering the hospital and at the reception counter, he caught hold of the nurse and attacked her with the machete for allegedly refusing his romantic advances.

She was treated in the hospital for her injuries, police said, adding that the suspect was arrested in the case.

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According to police, Jadhav was her neigbhour. He had been harassing the nurse for a while, persistently pressuring her to marry him but she rejected her proposal every time.

Upset over repeated rejection, he later approached her father with the proposal but he also rejected his marriage proposal and warned him to stay away from his daughter.

Her father became traumatised and stressed by the incident. Subsequently, he died.

"A case was registered against Prakash Jadhav and he was arrested in connection with the incident," a senior police officer said.

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