Social media scam: Rapper Badshah denies buying fake likes and followers

Continuing its probe into the sensational social media racket linked to creating fake 'followers and likes', busted last month, the Mumbai Police has investigated at least 20 prominent personalities including rapper Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, alias Badshah, official sources said on Saturday.
Badshah reportedly faced a 10-hour long interrogation by the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) on Friday.
He was questioned again on Saturday and is likely to be summoned again on Sunday for other related aspects of the probe, said the sources.
The developments came after the Mumbai Police busted the sensational scam on July 14 through analytical technical-intelligence and nabbed one person, following a complaint lodged by Bollywood playback singer Bhumi Trivedi.
Probing Trivedi's July 11 complaint that some persons had created a fake Instagram profile in her name and were approaching other celebrities in the entertainment industry with similar offers, the CIU got cracking to expose the mega-scam with international ramifications.

The police are investigating at least 100 Social Media Marketing (SMM) firms and 54 portals all over India, which offer services of generating fake profiles, likes, comments, followers, etc, through fake IDs or bots, on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc, with the alleged 'followers' also being used to create social panic through rumours.
Badshah issued a statement saying, "Following the summons, I have spoken to the Mumbai Police. I have aided the officials in their investigation by cooperating and carrying out the due diligence on my part. I have categorically denied all the allegations levelled against me and made it clear that I was never involved in such practices, nor do I condone them. The investigation procedure is being executed in accordance with the law and I have complete faith in the authorities, who are handling this matter. I would like to thank all those who have conveyed their concern to me. It means a lot to me."