Mumbai man held for circulating misleading video on Ajit Pawar’s plane crash, targeting CM Fadnavis

Through the video, the accused attempted to defame the chief minister by disseminating misleading information regarding the plane crash, said a police officer.

Mumbai: The West Region Cyber Police arrested a man from Jalna for allegedly circulating an objectionable video on social media related to the plane crash that killed former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, while making defamatory remarks against chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Mumbai Cyber Police arrested Uddhav Bhagwan Kapse for circulating a defamatory video about Ajit Pawar's plane crash that killed him. (AFP File)

Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash while he was heading to Baramati, his constituency, on January 28 this year. The jet crash-landed after failing to spot the runway, bursting into flames and leading to his death, along with his security officer Vidip Jadhav, pilot-in-command captain Sumit Kapur, first officer captain Shambhavi Pathak and flight attendant Pinky Mali.

According to the police, the video, which was uploaded a few days after the crash and drew around 150,000 views before being removed, contained misleading claims about the crash. The content contained numerous offensive statements concerning Ajit Pawar’s plane crash, specifically targeting the CM. The video was created using clips sourced from various news channels and altered with the help of artificial intelligence to include objectionable commentary.

The accused, Uddhav Bhagwan Kapse, was arrested on Monday and brought to Mumbai on Tuesday. He was produced before a Bandra court, which remanded him in police custody till April 10. Through this video, the accused attempted to defame the chief minister by disseminating misleading information regarding the plane crash, said a police officer.

The cyber police traced the upload to an IP address in Jalna and subsequently tracked down Kapse, a resident of Buttegaon with education up to SSC.