Rashmika Mandanna reacts after creator of her deepfake video arrested: 'Hope this is a reminder that...'

Rashmika Mandanna (Pic/Instagram)

Actress Rashmika Mandanna has reacted to the Delhi Police's prompt action against creator of a deepfake video based on her. On Saturday, the police arrested the main accused in actor's deepfake video case. Reacting to the development, Rashmika took to social media and expressed her gratitude to the police. "Expressing my heartfelt gratitude to @DCP_IFSO. Thank you for apprehending those responsible. Feeling truly grateful for the community that embraces me with love, 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," she wrote.

The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of Special Cell, Delhi Police arrested Eemani Naveen (24), the alleged mastermind who is said to have created and posted deep fake videos of Mandanna on social media platforms, which drew concerns from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and noted personalities including Amitabh Bachchan.

"We've arrested the main accused identified as Eemani Naveen, from Andhra Pradesh's Guntur. Laptop and mobile phone recovered from him. His deleted data is also being recovered...He used to run a fan page of a famous film actress (Rashmika Mandanna) and also created two more fan pages of another two noted celebrities," DCP, IFSO Unit said in a press briefing here.

"Later when he (the perpetrator) realized that it became a national sensation. He also saw tweet from famous film stars against the said deep fake video. He got scared and deleted the said posts from the Instagram Channel and also changed the name of Insta channel. He had also deleted the relevant digital data from his devices," the police officer said.

In November last year, a deepfake AI-generated video of actor Rashmika Mandanna appeared online, sparking discussions about digital safety.

In the viral video, it can be seen that a woman resembling the actress Rashmika was entering a lift wearing a black swimsuit. The video quickly went viral and several social media users came forward to confirm that it was a deepfake. As per police, during the investigation, more than 500 social media accounts related to the alleged deepfake videos were analysed."The videos were analysed in the Cyber Lab. The video was traced back to the Instagram handle of the accused.

"After identifying the alleged, a team reached Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and located Eemani Naveen who confessed to his crime," police said, adding that he revealed that he is a fan of the actress and used to run her fan page. "Just to increase the followers of page, he created the deepfake video and posted it on the fan page on October 13. 2023."

"Due to this deepfake video, the fan following of this page increased from 90,000 to 1,08,000 within two weeks," police added.

(with inputs from ANI)