Delhi Police arrests man over AI video falsely showing ACP Vivek Bhagat sexually assaulting woman

New Delhi: The 24-year-old man arrested for allegedly circulating a fabricated video of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat sexually assaulting a woman claimed to be an independent journalist, and was running an Instagram account with around 24,000 followers, Delhi Police said on Tuesday.

Nadeem Ahmed Ameen, a resident of Haryana's Palwal district, was apprehended from the Mewat region on Monday, and a mobile phone allegedly used to circulate the AI-generated reel was recovered from his possession, they said.

Officials said they are probing whether this incident was part of a larger pre-planned conspiracy to malign the image of Delhi Police and spread dissatisfaction against the government.


Addressing a press conference, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Manjeet said the accused claimed to be an independent journalist and was running the Instagram account '@news_aaina0776', which was created in April and had around 24,000 followers and 1,226 posts.

According to police, the manipulated video was circulated through this Instagram account and was presented as genuine CCTV footage, showing a person dressed as a police officer allegedly engaging in sexually inappropriate conduct with a woman.

"Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat's photograph, name and designation were prominently displayed alongside the purported footage, falsely portraying him as the person involved," the officer said.

A case was registered at the Cyber Police station of New Delhi district on October 4 under sections 352 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 353(1)(c) (Statements conducing to public mischief), 336(3) (Forgery for the purpose of cheating), 336(4) (Forgery for the purpose of damaging a person's reputation), 340(2) (Forged document or electronic record) and 294 (Sale, etc, of obscene books, etc) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, they said.

During the investigation, the user of the Instagram account was identified as Nadeem Ahmed Ameen, police said. The account through which the reel was circulated was found logged in on the mobile phone recovered from him, while content and a photograph connected with the fabricated reel were also found in the phone's gallery, they added.

Nadeem was produced before a court after his arrest and police custody was obtained for further investigation.

Police said Nadeem had studied at a madrassa in Saket and had failed Class 10. His father is a retired government Urdu lecturer, and he is the sixth of seven brothers.

Investigators are probing the source of funding, and whether a larger pre-planned conspiracy was hatched to spread 'instigation and anarchy' during the protest, police said.

Other social media accounts allegedly involved in creating a false narrative to tarnish the image of the Delhi Police and spread disaffection and dissatisfaction against the government are also being identified, they added.

The arrest comes amid a controversy involving ACP Bhagat, who was accused of sexually harassing a woman journalist during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar here.

Bhagat was promoted to the rank of additional deputy commissioner on Monday, along with three other officers from his batch, but the order assigning him the additional charge was withdrawn on Tuesday.

Bhagat, who was among 12 DANIPS officers assigned current duty charge of additional DCP, requested "of his own volition" not to avail the charge until a full inquiry into the alleged harassment of women journalists is conducted and "satisfactorily concluded", the government said in a post on X.