Mumbai Police Claim Badshah Bought Fake Views For Rs 72 Lakh, Rapper Denies Allegations

The Mumbai police seem to have made significant advancement into its investigation of a social media racket linked to fake 'followers and likes'.??

After continuous questioning that was spread across three days, rapper Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia famously known as Badshah has reportedly confessed to buying 7.2 crore views by shelling out an astounding 72 lakhs to garner fake likes and views on his music videos.?

Agencies

During the questioning, police officials claimed that the rapper had confessed how he had bought fake views in order to set a world record for his song Pagal Hai.?

Nandkumar Thakur, the deputy commissioner of police, said: “The?singer confessed that he wanted to set a world record for the?number of viewers in 24 hours on YouTube. That is why he paid Rs 72 lakh to this company."

Agencies

“Apart from Pagal Hai, we are also scrutinizing his other songs posted on social media," another official told Mumbai Mirror.?

Agencies

However, the rapper has issued a statement denying these allegations.?

"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 leveled 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.??

Badshah's official statement

These developments come after Mumbai police started investigating the complaint filed by Bollywood playback singer Bhumi Trivedi claiming that some persons had created her fake Instagram profile and were approaching other celebrities too.?

The police are also investigating at least 100 social media marketing firms and 54 portals all over India that offer services such as generating fake profiles, likes, comments, followers on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook among a few.