Haryana man arrested for spreading AI image of cop harassing journalist during Delhi protest

Sheoran said the social media cell flagged AI-generated reels and posters on Instagram and Facebook that were presented as “genuine CCTV footage" of the protest

A 24-year-old man has been arrested on charges of creating and circulating AI-generated reels and posters showing police officers sexually harassing a woman journalist during the protests against the Election Commission of India (ECI) in central Delhi, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

Police said the accused circulated the incriminating video reel through one Instagram account as authentic (X/DelhiPolice)

Police said the fabricated posts included AI-generated images of assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat, who was accused by a woman of sexual harassment during Saturday’s protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) near central Delhi.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi district) Manjeet Sheoran said Nadeem Ahmad of Palwal in Haryana launched his Instagram channel, “news_aaina0776”, in April-May this year ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar. The channel, run by the Class 10 dropout, currently has over 24,000 followers, he said.

Sheoran said the district’s social media monitoring cell flagged AI-generated reels and posters on Instagram and Facebook that were being presented as “genuine CCTV footage of the protest site”. In one of the AI-generated poster, for instance, a police officer was shown groping a woman during the protest as if it were a screenshot of CCTV footage.

“Ahmad’s interrogation revealed that his motive behind creating and circulating the fabricated and objectionable images of a police officer was to tarnish the image of the Delhi Police, create unrest and incite the protesters to attack the police,” he added.

Nadeem Ahmad was arrested on October 5. His initial interrogation indicated that he created the fabricated content on October 3 and circulated it on October 4.

Police said Ahmad was being questioned to ascertain the source of funding, identify his associates and look into the possibility that he was creating the objectionable content as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to instigate protesters and cause riots.