Maharashtra's cyber police filed a case against popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee after a parody account purportedly posted a fake message on X about Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter.
According to the cyber department, the post stated that the Lok Sabha Speaker's daughter had cleared the Union Public Service Commission exam without appearing for it. The message was posted from an account with the handle @dhruvrahtee, the police stated.
However, the bio of the account reads, "This is a fan and parody account and is not affiliated with the original account of @dhruvrathee. I am not impersonating anyone. This account is parody."
Agitated by the news of him being booked by the police, Dhruv Rathee lambasted a media house for dragging his name without checking the facts. "Go use your eyes to see that this alleged post was made by some random parody Twitter account. I have nothing to do with this," he stated.
The matter was brought to the police's attention by a relative of Om Birla. Following the complaint, the police charged the YouTuber under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for defamation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and statement leading to mischief, as well as under sections of the IT Act.
When it was highlighted that the alleged fake message was posted by a parody account and not the one belonging to Rathee, a police official said the matter was being investigated.
Amid the row, another tweet was posted from the parody account, stating, "As directed by @MahaCyber1, I have deleted all my posts and comments on Anjali Birla. I would like to apologise as I was unaware of the facts and copied someone else's tweets and shared them."
