Gurugram: The last thing a police officer talks passionately about is a geyser. But for Haryana police constable Amit Yadav, this is serious business. And it is an extension of his public service job.
In a video that has gone viral, the Haryana Police constable wears his full uniform, holds an electric tester, and explains how a faulty electric water heater can kill. It has 4.9 million views and likes on his Instagram handle, vardiwala007. At a time when police officers and civil servants are still dancing around how to navigate social media protocols, Yadav’s online avatar is an unusual hit.
The video begins with a news hook—a woman’s death due to electrocution from an electric geyser—and quickly shifts into a safety explainer. “You must check the switchboard and the geyser area at least once a month to ensure there is no current leakage,” the constable says, calmly testing the socket on camera.
This is just one of the many public-interest videos 32-year-old Yadav has been making, covering everything from cyber frauds to women’s safety. Speaking in a firm, measured tone and always in uniform, Yadav has built a community of nearly 18 lakh followers on Instagram in just the past two months—turning everyday safety risks into bite-sized lessons.
“When I joined the cybercrime cell, I saw how people are being fooled, and their money is being looted. They could have saved it if they were aware of basic digital security. Police is doing its work, but with this kind of platform and reach, I am informing and alerting more and more people,” said Yadav.
Yadav, who’s been in the force for seven years, began posting short informational videos two years ago—an experiment that steadily sharpened his communication skills and turned him into a professional content creator.
Today, he shoots in controlled lighting, designs crisp thumbnails, and carefully selects subjects he knows people want answers to. His Instagram followers include comedians such as Bass and Ravi Gupta and vloggers such as Saurabh Joshi. His inbox has transformed into an informal complaint box, flooded with messages from people reporting fraud and cyber scams. Seniors in the force acknowledge his outreach, universities invite him for awareness talks, and yet Yadav continues his regular police duties.
There is no monetary gain from social media so far. This, he says, is purely about awareness and public service. As he expands to YouTube and Facebook, adapting to each platform’s algorithm, Yadav posts a new topic almost every day—some videos are warnings, others are advice.
But the visibility and influence he enjoys today were not always part of his life.
“I never thought of doing this. I used to help people with the information I have. One day, two of my friends, who are bloggers, told me that if I use social media, I can educate many about digital security. That’s how I began my content creation journey,” said Yadav.
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Fame and recognition
Social media is flooded with videos of police personnel in uniform. Many dance, perform stunts, wear aviators while stepping out of a jeep, or lip-sync dialogues from popular films. Several have even faced departmental action for it. But Yadav is unfazed.
His content, he says, is simply an extension of the police work he does every day at the station—focused entirely on awareness about cybercrime and public safety. Yadav has never faced trouble from the department.
“My seniors supported me a lot, and many appreciate my work. The department even sends me for awareness talks when invitations come,” Yadav said.
Just a few days ago, Yadav visited GD Goenka University to speak to students. The young audience had many questions. He largely spoke about cyber fraud, data protection and the risks around private photos. The hall was packed with hundreds of students. He was felicitated with flowers and a sapling.
Students asked him questions ranging from how to secure their social media accounts and devices, how to file a complaint from home, what to do if money is transferred to the wrong account, and how to stay safe while storing private photos. Yadav spoke for over an hour, addressing these concerns one by one.
“These young people have so many questions. We all live in a digital world, and digital knowledge is essential. I told them how they can check if their phone has been involved in any criminal activity by entering the IMEI number on a government website, how to activate two-factor authentication on social media accounts, and more,” Yadav said, showing pictures from the talk on his phone.
Early last year, he won the Best Social Impact Content Creator award at the Dainik Jagran Creator Lens Awards, held in Chandigarh.
His goal, Yadav says, is to protect people from cyber fraud. “Whatever is happening right now is just the trailer—the full film is yet to come,” he said.
“The only thing that can stop this is awareness. If you are not aware, you become an easy target—especially people who are not very social. Through my videos, I try to reach those people as well, who may not interact much offline but can still get information through social media,” he added.
Long way to go
The idea for making such videos came after a cyber fraud incident involving a friend’s father. He had installed an Android Package Kit on his phone, after which the device started running automatcily without anyone touching it. Because of Yadav’s quick action, there was no financial loss. As soon as he learnt about the incident, he rushed to their house, which was just a few minutes away, and froze all his bank accounts.
“Before freezing the accounts, I asked them to withdraw as much cash as they could. All IDs were locked through DigiLocker. That’s when I decided to start making awareness videos,” Yadav said.
Yadav started posting videos in June 2024. “My goal was never to gain followers. I just made videos in simple language that people could understand,” he said. His first viral video was about people selling their used phones to street vendors. In the video, Yadav warned that personal data from such phones can be retrieved and misused for criminal activities.
“People think deleting data is enough, but someone can retrieve it with just an internet connection. Data never truly gets deleted. That’s why you should never sell your phone to a random person. This was one of my initial reels—it was probably my eighth or ninth video—and it went viral,” he recalled.
Since then, Yadav has been making videos rooted in everyday life.
In one video, he stands on a road next to a taxi, sharing safety tips for women travelling at night. The video was a collaboration with another creator, Gaurav Yadav, who has over five lakh followers.
“Here are five important safety features women should use or look for when travelling in a taxi at night: Share live location with trusted contacts, verify driver and vehicle details before entering, use in-app safety features (SOS, trip tracking), sit in the back seat (preferably behind the driver), stay alert, avoid distractions, and keep your phone accessible,” read the caption.
Initially, Yadav took inspiration from the cases he used to see at work, but now ideas come to him from news and popular trends, such as the Payal Gaming video and the Pakistani spy trend.
“I don’t need to do much research as a policeman. I have already done the training for cyber awareness. I am aware of what to do in certain situations and how to prevent fraud. I just pass on that information,” said Yadav.
As a working police officer, his schedule is not fixed, but he finds time to balance his work online and offline with his life. Yadav is married and has a 5-year-old son. He makes most of his videos at home. He doesn’t collaborate for money, but he has posted stories reviewing the salons he has visited or awareness videos with other content creators on women safety.
He is trying to build reach on YouTube. While the platform pays creators based on watch time—typically offering higher payouts for longer videos—he primarily posts short-form videos.
“I have only earned Rs 1,800 from YouTube as of now,” said Yadav while showing his earnings on his phone screen. He has posted 690 videos and has 3.4 lakh subscribers.
But with 1.8 million followers, he gets multiple requests for endorsement. He chooses wisely and goes ahead with a few. A few weeks ago, the manager of a store selling protein powder from Najafgarh called him to visit the store.
He doesn’t collab for money but for awareness and reach.
“Amit Bhai creates very good content, something that helps people. There are so many duplicate protein brands in the market. We wanted him to come and check out our store so he can see what kind of quality we sell and if he can endorse it,” said the store manager from Najafgarh.
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Respect beyond rank
With social media, Amit Yadav has become popular within his department as well. Usually, a constable is at the lowest deck in the police hierarchy. But his larger-than-life image transcends his designation, which otherwise comes with many restrictions and protocols. As a content creator, his reach expanded—and that included senior officers, too. Despite being a constable, he now has an easy equation with IPS officers, who occasionally appreciate his work.
“I remember we had a shooting session, and our senior officer, Wassim Akram, came to me and appreciated my work. Everyone was a little shocked. It gives motivation as well,” Yadav said.
Many senior officers across the country follow him on social media, including IPS Safin Hassan, IPS Faisal Raja, and IPS Arpit Jain. However, there has been no direct communication between them.
But his work is very much a topic of discussion within the police department.
“I also follow him on instagram and share his reels to our groups and even gave his examples to my subordinates who makes meaningless reels saying thats how you should use the Instagram,” said an IPS officer from Uttarpradesh, 2019 batch, on the condition of anonymity.
Many senior IPS officers have praised him publicly, moments that became highlights of his professional life.
“He is making us proud on the social media, with all the new awareness videos, the department also promotes him to give the talks to different places and platform where required,” said a IG Rank officer to him, who did not want to be named
In one comedy show, comedian Ravi Gupta joked about him. “Aap to wahi police wale hain jo vardi pehen kar humein daraate hain,” Bassi said ( you are the same police man who scares us online in uniform)
In another standup show, Gupta also identified him and said, “Agar main galat nahi hoon, to yeh aadmi wahi hai jisne meri raaton ki neend uda rakhi hai.” (If I am not wrong, then he is the person who has stolen my sleep)
Almost every interaction with Amit Yadav turns into a cyber awareness session. In his village, he is invited to give talks at casual hukka baithaks, where men sit together and smoke hookah. Before he joined the police, Yadav worked as a delivery driver.
Yadav was born in 1993 in Manesar. He lost his father at the age of five. His mother raised him by selling milk, and he helped by delivering it and doing other work in nearby villages. He completed his schooling from a nearby school and his bachelors degree in engineering from Hisar’s Jamdeshwar University. After completing his degree, he worked at Goibibo and a few other companies as an engineer but did not feel satisfied.
After being selected into the Haryana Police, he felt partially fulfilled, but still wanted to do more. With content creation, he says, he has finally found his purpose.
“The work in the police was fine, but now I have found my goal. I want to help more people and reach more people,” Yadav said.
He wants to create an identity beyond the uniform. A big part of his online presence is his police uniform, which he wears in every video. But in the coming year, he plans to make some videos in civilian clothes as well, so people recognise his face beyond the uniform.
“People trust me because I am a policeman, but slowly I will start making videos in civil clothes too. They should recognise me without the uniform as well, and I think it will work,” Yadav said.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)