Delhi Police questions Bihar youth in Rashmika Mandanna's deepfake video case

The Delhi Police has questioned a 19-year-old youth from Bihar in connection with a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna that was widely circulated on social media recently, officials said on Wednesday.

The police suspect that the youth had first uploaded the video on his social media platform and later shared it widely on other platforms.

He was given notice to join the probe as the video was first uploaded on social media from his account, a senior officer told PTI.

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 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.

However, the city police on Tuesday said no arrest has been made in connection with the case so far.

”Though he said that he had downloaded the video from an Instagram account, we are interrogating him,” the officer said.

The youth, a native of Bihar, was asked to appear before the IFSO Unit and bring his mobile phone, which he claimed was used to upload the video, the officer said.

Soon after registering an FIR, the IFSO Unit also wrote to Meta to get the URL and other details to identify the accused.