In a crackdown on online disinformation, Mumbai’s cyber police have apprehended Uddhav Bhagwan Kapse from Jalna for uploading a provocative video that defamed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and peddled false narratives about ex-Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s plane mishap.
The video, viewed over 150,000 times on social platforms before removal, manipulated facts from the January 28 crash to tarnish the CM’s image. Kapse, a Buttegav villager with limited education, admitted to employing artificial intelligence to produce the content from existing clips.
Acting on orders from top brass who flagged the viral post, the Western Cyber Cell filed an FIR for spreading objectionable material and impersonation. Digital forensics pinpointed Jalna as the source, prompting a raid that led to Kapse’s custody.
Brought to Bandra court on Tuesday, the 10th-grade dropout was granted three days of police remand. He resides with his parents in the village, and his confession highlights the ease of AI-driven fakery.
This case revives memories of CM Fadnavis’s March 26 rebuke of a Bengaluru zero FIR on the Pawar crash, which he called a politically motivated bid by Karnataka’s rulers to discredit Maharashtra. With social media awash in such threats, police vow intensified surveillance and prosecutions to protect public discourse.
