Delhi Police arrests man for Rashmika Mandanna deepfake video

Delhi Police has arrested a 24-year-old engineering graduate from a Chennai College, self trained in editing photos and videos, for creating the sensational deep fake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna that took social media by storm in October last year.

The Guntur-native is believed to have been arrested under IPC sections 465 (punishment for forgery) and 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) and sections 66C and 66E of the Information Technology Act in this regard.

Section 66C is applicable in cases where someone tries to pass off as another person by making use of that person’s signature, password etc., while 66E refers to the unauthorized sharing of the image of another person’s private area.

The fake and edited video, where Rashmika’s face was superimposed onto a British influencer, had gone viral, sparking a widespread condemnation. Soon after, Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit registered a case.

The accused, identified as Eemani Naveen, arrested from his native place in Andhra Pradesh, claimed that he was a “big fan” of the South Indian actress and allegedly created the video to gain more followers on a fan page he had created on her.

The underlying video was uploaded by a British Indian woman on her Instagram account in October 2023 and later, a deepfake video of the film actress was created and circulated.

During the investigation, the police analysed more than 500 social media accounts related to the alleged deepfake videos.

“We even interrogated several social media account holders from all over India and collected relevant information. After the deep analysis and interrogation of suspected persons, finally the account of alleged was traced on Instagram,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO), Hemant Tiwari, said in a press conference.