‘He watched Katrina-Vicky’s house, followed car’: Mumbai cops get 3-day custody

Manvinder Singh, 28, came to Mumbai to try his luck in the film and television industry about seven-eight months back and had been staying at the Andheri hotel

MUMBAI: Manvinder Vinvasani Singh, the 28-year-old aspiring actor arrested on charges of threatening actor Vicky Kaushal and stalking his wife, actor Katrina Kaif, had been harassing the couple since March 2021, the Mumbai Police told a city court on Tuesday.

Star couple Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal were allegedly stalked by an aspiring actor, according to a FIR registered by Santacruz police station (Katrina Kaif Instagram)

Singh, who was arrested from a hotel by Santacruz police on Monday following a complaint by Vicky Kaushal, had been making rounds of the couple’s residence and also followed their car, a police officer said citing its initial probe into the case.

The metropolitan magistrate’s court at Bandra on Tuesday remanded Singh, son of a doctor from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, in police custody for three days after investigators said they wanted to ascertain if the man threatened or stalked any other actor and establish his motive behind stalking Katrina Kaif. “We will also find out how many times and when Singh followed Kaif and stalked her,” the officer later said.

Investigators who are scanning Manvinder Singh’s social media posts said they found a morphed photo of Singh and another famous actor on his Instagram handle and wanted to confirm if she was also stalked or harassed.

Police told the magistrate that the aspiring actor had been keeping a watch on the building and area where Katrina Kaif stayed after getting married to Kaushal and also followed the couple’s car on several occasions. He also uploaded the videos on his Instagram account.

On scanning through Singh’s Instagram page, police also found that he had also morphed and merged his photos with that of Katrina Kaif. He captioned these photos, referring to the actor as his girlfriend or wife.

The investigating officer said Singh uploaded a video message on Instagram on June 13 threatening Kaushal and also sent messages on Katrina Kaif’s WhatsApp claiming that he knew where Kaushal was hiding and will keep him on gunpoint.

“Singh had been harassing the couple since March 2021 and had sent abusive and threatening messages to the couple several times using various social media tools and also through voice messages and calls,” said a police officer from Santacruz police station.

The court remanded Singh in police custody even as Singh’s lawyer argued that the 28-year-old knew Kaif since 2019 and the photos uploaded by him on his Instagram account were not morphed and the allegations against him were baseless.

The Santacruz police arrested Singh on Monday afternoon from his hotel in Andheri east where he had been staying for the seven-eight months. Police registered a first information report (FIR) based on a complaint lodged by Kaushal and booked Singh under sections 354 (d) and 506 (2) of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.