Rashmika Mandanna Reacts After Creator Of Her Deepfake Video Says He Wanted To Boost Followers

Eemani Naveen, the 24-year-old B Tech graduate (in electronic and communication) who has been arrested from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh for creating the deepfake video of actress Rashmika Mandanna, has allegedly told the Police that he made the AI-generated video to increase the number of followers on his Instagram handle.

Wanted to boost followers, says creator of Rashmika Mandanna's deepfake video

Twitter

The engineer was reportedly working from home as a social media manager and a video editor. He wanted to boost the followers on an Instagram fan page he created for the actress.

"To increase followers, he created a deepfake video of the actor. Due to this deepfake video, the fan following of this page increased from 90,000 to 1,08,000 within two weeks," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) Hemant Tiwari said.

The Police revealed that his followers increased from 90,000 to 108,000 within two weeks after he posted the deepfake video.

As per the Police, Eemani Naveen ran three fan pages of celebrities. One of them was of the Animal actress.

Rashmika Mandanna reacts to the arrest

Twitter

Taking to Instagram, the actress said that she was truly grateful for everyone who supported her to nab the mastermind behind her deepfake video. She added that morphing the video without consent is wrong. "Expressing my heartfelt gratitude to @delhi.police_official. Thank you for apprehending those responsible. Feeling truly grateful for the community that embraces me with love, and support and shields me. Girls and boys - if your image is used or morphed anywhere without your consent. It is wrong! And I hope this is a reminder that you are surrounded by people who will support you and action will be taken!"

The probe

#WATCH | Delhi: On main accused arrested in the case of deep fake profiles of actor Rashmika Mandana, DCP IFSO Unit Hemant Tiwari says, "..We've arrested the main accused identified as Eemani Naveen, 24, from Andhra Pradesh's Guntur. Laptop and mobile phone recovered from him.¡­ pic.twitter.com/YzLXMcSaZ8

¡ª ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2024

On November 10, an FIR was registered under sections 465 (punishment for forgery) and 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 66C and 66E of the Information Technology Act at the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell. The case was registered on the complaint of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). Soon after registering the FIR, the IFSO Unit wrote to Meta to get the URL and other details to identify the accused who made the video and put it on the social media, the official added.

Also Read: Nora Fatehi Calls Out Brand For Using Her Deepfake Video: Here's The Truth Behind Viral Video

(With inputs from PTI)

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