Cricket commentator and VJ Gaurav Kapur and RJ Roshan Abbas have been summoned by Mumbai Police’s SIT for investigation in fake followers’ racket, Mumbai Police sources told news agency ANI.
Few days ago, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had said the state police will probe the matter. "Several PR agencies give fake followers, called as bots, to Bollywood celebrities or some other big people. Such bots are used for trolling or data theft. Hence, the Maharashtra police will probe into this," Deshmukh had said in a video message.
Netizens mocked Mumbai Police after they summoned Gaurav Kapur and Roshan Abbas. One user said, "What case is this and why is Mumbai police concerned about fake followers?"
While another user said, "Now Mumbai Police gonna have Breakfast with these Champions !"
Here's what netizens had to say:
The case came to light, after a 20-year-old man was arrested for allegedly working for an international Social Media Marketing (SMM) racket involved in the creation of fake profiles on social media. The accused was identified as Abhishek Daude, a resident of Kurla.
The group created and sold fake profiles on social media platforms. These profiles were used to artificially inflate the number of followers on in order to project a person as an 'influencer'. Influencers are in high demand as they can boost a company or a brand's sales by endorsing a product.
Bollywood playback singer Bhoomi Trivedi had approached Mumbai Police recently and complained that somebody had created her fake profile on Instagram. Meanwhile, according to a report by The Week, actresses Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are likely to be summoned by the Mumbai Police in connection to the probe into fake social media followers scam.
