Badshah paid Rs 72 lakh for buying crores of fake views: Mumbai Police

Badshah

In the fake followers' case, the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed that rapper Badshah paid Rs 72 lakh to promote his music album with fake likes and followers. Badshah did all this to set a world record, CIU officials said.

According to CIU, last year Badshah's song 'Pagal hai' got 72 lakh views in a day on YouTube and Badshah paid money to get those views. No singer has got so many views in a single day on Youtube.

According to the police, singer Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia alias Badshah paid Rs 72 lakh. The Mumbai Police is investigating a social media racket associated with making fake 'followers and likes'. In this case, the Mumbai Police have so far questioned at least 10 people, including Badshah.

An officer of the police investigating the fake followers' case said that Singer Badshah's name came up while investigating the case. After this, the investigation of the comments received on social media to Badshah's songs was started. So the investigation found a difference in views and comments as there were some songs which received millions of views but very few comments, which raised their suspicion and CIU called Badshah for questioning.

A CIU official said that Badshah has been interrogated on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The police have asked over 200 questions from Badshah and he could be called again for questioning.

Singer Badshah issued an official statement, saying, "Following the summons, I have spoken to the Mumbai Police. I have aided the officials in their investigation by cooperating and carrying out the due diligence on my part. I've categorically denied all the allegations levelled against me and made it clear that I was never involved in such practices, nor do I condone them. The investigation procedure is being executed according to the law and I have complete faith in the authorities, who are handling this matter. I'd like to thank all those who have conveyed their concern to me. It means a lot to me."

The fake followers' case came into the limelight when someone created a fake profile of Bollywood singer Bhoomi Trivedi on social media. The investigation was started by the CIU after a police complaint was filed by Trivedi. During the investigation, the police discovered a gang that creates fake profiles on social media and sells fake followers and likes to people.

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