In July, singer Bhumi Trivedi filed a police complaint after she found a fake profile of hers which led the cops to bust a fake followers’ scam. Over the weekend, the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) also questioned singer Badshah in this regard. According to Zee News, the rapper had earlier claimed that his single ‘Pagal Hai’ amassed 7.5 crore views in a day but Alphabet (parent company of Google & YouTube) denied the world record. He has been accused of buying fake views and followers.
The Indian Express quoted Deputy commissioner of police, Nandkumar Thakur saying, “The singer confessed that he wanted to set a world record for the most number of viewers in 24 hours on YouTube. That is why he paid Rs 72 lakh.”
I’d call it building an empire using matchsticks but the sad part; most do buy into this perception game.The shaadi circuit pays enough to afford these buyouts with their ‘status’ oriented,’live?’music choices…Actors, first to get on to this & of course the Punjabi ‘artists’.🤟🏾 pic.twitter.com/57PCHTfkNs
— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) August 9, 2020
Hindustan Times quoted Badshah saying in his official statement,
“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 leveled 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 in accordance with 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.”
We hope the Mumbai Police get to the bottom of the matter soon.