YouTuber who made spoof video of Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani held for harming CM's reputation

A 22-year-old YouTuber from Gujarat’s Porbandar has been arrested for allegedly trying to harm the reputation of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani by creating and uploading a 'doctored video' of his recent speech, police said on Friday.

Vivek Parmar, a resident of Gorsar village, was arrested on Thursday under IPC section 469, which deals with forgery for the purpose of harming reputation, sub-inspector AS Agravat of Madhavpur police said. Parmar, a Commerce graduate, shares 'funny videos' at regular intervals on his YouTube and Facebook accounts. The police recently came across a 'doctored video' of the CM, which Parmar shared on his Facebook account.

“Parmar is accused of creating and circulating an indecent doctored video clip, using some portion of the Chief Minister's original speech, with an intention to harm the latter's reputation and position,” the official said, quoting the FIR.

The 'indecent doctored video' has since been removed from Parmar's Facebook and YouTube profiles, he added. The accused had allegedly used Rupani's recent media address about Cyclone Tauktae. Two weeks ago, a disc jockey (DJ) was arrested in Vadodara on the same charges for making a spoof video by using the CM’s old speech on potatoes.

Cyclonic Tauktae impact

Cyclonic storm Tauktae had hit the state of Gujarat over a week back, leaving a trail of large-scale destruction across districts. On May 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for "immediate relief activities" after conducting an aerial survey of areas hit by the cyclone in Gujarat. An inter-ministerial team of the Centre arrived in the Amreli district of Gujarat on Thursday to assess the damage caused by cyclone Tauktae.