Delhi Police books Prashant Bhushan over doctored Lavrov video

• Delhi Police registers an FIR against Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan over a digitally manipulated video attributed to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov

• Police say the clip contained misleading and inflammatory material; the MEA had flagged it as fabricated

• The Special Cell is examining the video’s content and circulation on social media

Delhi Police has registered an FIR against senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan over the sharing of a digitally manipulated video falsely attributed to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, officials said.

The case was lodged at the Special Cell police station after officers conducting cyber patrols on 3 November noticed a post by the social media handle @thequotesnews. The post claimed that the doctored clip had been shared from Bhushan’s X account.

The fabricated video purported to show Lavrov making remarks critical of India concerning its internal affairs and oil purchases. The Ministry of External Affairs had flagged the clip as digitally manipulated.

According to police, the video contained misleading and inflammatory material that could spread rumours, damage reputations and disturb public order.

The FIR invokes sections 336(4), 353(1)(c), 356 and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, covering offences related to forgery, statements conducing to public mischief, defamation and the use of a forged document as genuine.

Section 66C of the Information Technology Act, which concerns identity theft, has also been invoked.

Police are examining the content of the video and tracing its circulation on social media as part of the investigation.

With IANS inputs