BJP MLA Randhir Singh claimed on Tuesday that the video clip in which a man purported to be him is seen defending cyber criminals was doctored and released online by his political opponents wanting to defame him.

“My opponents have released that doctored video to tarnish my image as a part of a conspiracy against me. I have spoken to my lawyers and decided to take strict legal action against the people behind this conspiracy,” Singh said, adding that the video clip too should be thoroughly examined by concerned agencies.

A video clip, in which a man purported to be Singh is seen defending cyber criminals and threatening to gherao police stations if the people of Jamtara (in his constituency) are harassed unnecessarily, went viral on social media platforms recently.

In the video, the man purported to be Singh is addressing a public gathering and openly lauding the people of his constituency for being smart enough to dupe educated people of other states through cyber fraud.

“Nobody has ever been able to dupe any resident of my constituency. If illiterate people of our region are so smart that they can dupe people of other states then whose fault is it?” the man in the video asks. “Why do the literate people of other states provide their personal details to callers over phone? If police harass our people, then I will have no option but to gherao police stations,” he adds.

Singh is a two-time MLA from Sarath, a constituency that shares its borders with Jamtara that has gained infamy for being the cyber crime capital of the country. It is home to several gangs of “Panchvi Fail” cybercriminals, who have duped several people living in the metros, say police.

On Tuesday, a visibly infuriated Singh said he would not stop at taking legal actions against the people who have allegedly doctored the video to tarnish his image, but also sue the new channels that have run the video clip without establishing its authenticity.

BJP has stood by the party MLA during the controversy. Party spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said that the video was shot from an angle which makes it impossible to match the lip movement of the person with the words he speaks.

“The video is not clear, and there is no way to match the audio of the clip with the lip movement of the man in it. In this era of doctored videos and editing techniques, I think the video clip needs to be examined before jumping to conclusions,” he said.