The cyber cell of Mumbai police on Friday arrested a lawyer from Delhi for allegedly spreading fake news and conspiracy theories on social media over the deaths of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and his former manager Disha Salian.
The accused, identified as Vibhor Anand, was taken to Mumbai where he was produced before a court and remanded in police custody till October 19. Sources in Mumbai police said Anand had been booked for defamation and other charges under the Information Technology Act.
“Anand concocted several fake conspiracy theories and made false claims related to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Sushant and Salian. He is accused of cooking up conspiracy theories that defamed some celebrities and the Maharashtra government,” a police officer said.
Last month, actor-producer Arbaaz Khan, the brother of superstar Salman Khan, had lodged a complaint with the cyber cell of Mumbai police and also filed a case in a civil court against Anand. The court had directed Anand and some other unknown accused persons to take down the defamatory content published directly or indirectly by them.
Anand is also accused of posting videos in which he had made defamatory statements and allegations against the Maharashtra government.
Mumbai police have claimed to have identified 80,000 such fake social media accounts created on various platforms after Sushant’s death to discredit Mumbai police and the Maharashtra government. The police’s cyber cell has compiled a report in which it has said social media posts with hashtags such as “justiceforsushant” were uploaded to peddle conspiracy theories.