SSR case: Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh acknowledges fake accounts created to 'discredit' department

The tragic demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput took everyone including family, Hindi film fraternity members and his fans, followers from across the globe, by shock.

However, there were several questions that were raised soon after the news of the actor's death spread, suspecting foul play. Subsequently, an investigation began with Mumbai police leading the probe. And when eyebrows were raised on the way the state's police was conducting the investigation, thousands of Sushant's fans took to social media to run a campaign demanding a CBI enquiry into his death. Consequently, on the basis of an FIR by Bihar police, the Supreme Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the case and asked the Mumbai Police to submit evidence collected in the case to the central agency.

And now, months after the investigations began, it has come to light that about 80,000 fake accounts were created across all social media platforms to demoralise Mumbai Police and Maharashtra government, as per a report in Hindustan Times.

Shedding light on the same, in an exclusive conversation with Zee News, Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh talks about Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. He said, "We also wanted justice for Sushant and everyone else too, but we found out that fake accounts were created on social media to discredit and troll Mumbai police. These accounts were used with the intent of discrediting and influencing the investigation as well."

"All of this at the time of pandemic when several of my officers succumbed to COVID-19 and thousands were battling it, why all of this was done to demoralise the Mumbai police, I can't understand. It was a game-plan.", added the top cop.

"A lot of such accounts that were created to malign and spread fake news have come to our notice. The cyber cell is investigating such accounts. We will definitely get to the bottom of this and unearth the design behind this game-plan," said Param Bir Singh to Zee News.

On being asked about how the nature of the accounts, the top cop said, "We are in touch with all teams of all social media platform including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We have 'summoned' them to provide us with details at the earliest and as soon as we get it, we will make a progress in this case."

He added, "We have information that accounts from within India and abroad were in operation. Also, many more of such accounts are still being identified."

Param Bir Singh added that besides these fake accounts, a section of media too was running a bogus campaign to malign and discredit the department. Talking about the number of fake accounts that have been identified the top cop stated that the number is certainly in thousands but could exceed that. He added that because it is an ongoing process, giving a figure will not be feasible.

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment in Mumbai on June 14, 2020. While the investigation is still on in the case, with the CBI, Narcotics Control Bureau and the Directorate of Enforcement all probing the case from different angles, a latest AIIMS report submitted to the CBI rules out murder and hints at suicide being the cause of Sushant's death.