Mumbai: ‘India’s Got Latent’ host Samay Raina said Wednesday that he had taken down all episodes of the show from his channel, amid a raging row over controversial remarks made by YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia in an episode this week.
This comes at a time when the Maharashtra Cyber Cell, which is probing the case related to Allahbadia’s controversial remarks, has also asked YouTube to take down all the episodes.
On Wednesday night, Raina posted an Instagram story that said: “Everything that is happening has been too much for me to handle. I have removed all India’s Got Latent videos from my channel. My only objective was to make people laugh and have a good time. I will fully cooperate with all agencies to ensure their inquiries are concluded fairly.”
A senior officer of the Maharashtra Cyber Cell, who did not wish to be named, said they are scrutinising all episodes of the show and will summon contestants as accused if “they have indulged in making obscene and indecent remarks during any of the episodes”. Members of the audience will be called in as witnesses.
“We want all the videos to be removed from the channel. We will not be making any direct arrests and will only act after recording everybody’s statements. If anyone who auditioned for the show makes an official complaint against the makers, it will account for a more serious offense,” the officer said.
The Maharashtra Cyber Cell had on Monday registered an FIR against the popular show ‘India’s Got Latent’ after clips of Allahbadia’s controversial remarks went viral and triggered an uproar. Allahbadia was seen in one such clip asking a contestant: “Would you rather witness your parents engaging in sexual activity every day or participate once to end it forever?”
The YouTuber, also known as ‘Beer Biceps’, later issued an apology.
The cyber cell officer quoted earlier said that so far, 30-40 individuals, including Allahbadia, show host Samay Raina, Ashish Chanchlani and several other YouTubers, have been booked. “No chargesheet has been filed yet. We will scrutinise statements from all the edited and unedited videos, and record statements from everybody. The participants may also be called for investigations, as there are no uniform parameters, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis.”
He added that an arrest warrant may be issued if anyone doesn’t comply. “We can arrest someone without a warrant for a cognizable offense under Section 41 of the CrPC.”
Asked about FIRs lodged in other jurisdictions, the officer said he was unaware of them.
The cyber cell officer also said that no confirmation had been received from any of those booked, in response to summons issued to them, including Raina, Allahbadia, Apurva Makhija, Jaspreet Singh, and Chanchalani.
Celebrities like Rakhi Sawant, Maheep Singh, Raftaar, and Deepak Kalal may also be summoned by the cyber cell, it is learnt.
Pooja Bhatia is an intern with ThePrint.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: ‘Comedy not my forte,’ says YouTuber ‘BeerBiceps’ after complaint over India’s Got Latent remarks
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