A deep fake video of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that circulated online, where her deep fake avatar talked about GST in a bad light, has led to registration of complaint in Ahmedabad.

The video was posted on a social media account by an individual named Chirag Patel. 

The Instagram handle of Ahmedabad police posted a fact check, stating that Patel was booked by the Crime Branch under BNS 2023 Section 336(4), 2566, 353(B) and IT Act Section 66(D).

As per the complaint details, Patel is liable to be booked under Section 66E of IT Act 2000. The video originated from the X user Garima on which Patel morphed the picture of Sitharaman to post it as a satire.

The deep fake post by Patel garnered over 3,000 likes, more than 1,300 retweets and over 6 lakh views.

Screengrab from X handle @tuvter

State Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi took to his X on July 9, “This deceptive act of spreading deep fake videos to mislead citizens is abhorrent.”

He also wrote, “Gujarat police have registered an FIR against this person for spreading this deep fake video.”

“Trying to mislead citizens. Let’s not fall prey to such manipulative tactics and prioritise truth and accountability in our digital spaces,” he added.

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