Will not disclose names of people under probe in social media fake follower case: DCP

The Mumbai Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) has verified 25 people till now in the fake social media followers case. However, it will not disclose the names of people involved, saying that it may hamper the investigation.

"Mumbai Police SIT has verified 25 people till now. A few of them have recorded their statements as witnesses in this case as of now," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nandkumar Thakur, Crime Branch.

"Police will not disclose the names of people under investigation as this may hamper the probe," he said.

He also said that statements of two witnesses were recorded yesterday. "...most of the people who are identified or whose statements are recorded are people who are in the social media business," said DCP Thakur.

On Wednesday, Mumbai police had arrested 29-year-old Kashif Mansoor in fake social media followers case for allegedly selling fake followers.

As per the Mumbai police, Mansoor, a civil engineer, has completed 25,000 orders till date and sold 2.3 crores fake followers, till date.

Last week, Mumbai police arrested a man who made a fake profile of Bollywood playback singer and claimed that he manages her social media accounts. The accused contacted some Bollywood personalities and claimed he can increase their social media followers the way he increased the singer's followers.

During the investigation, the SIT found about 100 compes selling fake social media followers.

Now, the probe agency has identified 68 compes selling fake followers and fake social media activities like retweets, likes, views, subscriptions and comments.

The agency has recorded around 20 statements in the matter.

Notably, the SIT has also written to France government (via MEA) and sought details of FollowersKart, one of the main accused company (France-based). This is the rate card of Kashif Mansoor's company.

( With inputs from ANI )