Additional DCP Manjeet during briefs the media on the arrest of independent journalist, in New Delhi on October 6, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Delhi Police have arrested a 24-year-old ‘independent journalist’ for creating and circulating a fabricated video that allegedly falsely portrayed Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat in an objectionable situation with a woman, and are probing whether the episode was part of a larger conspiracy to provoke unrest during a protest.
The video was circulated through an Instagram account, @news_aaina0776, and was presented as genuine CCTV footage, according to the police. It showed a person dressed as a police officer engaging in sexually inappropriate conduct with a woman, while a photograph of Mr Bhagat, along with his name and designation, was displayed alongside the footage, falsely suggesting that he was the person in the video.
The police’s social media monitoring unit detected the reel on October 4, following which an FIR was registered at the Cyber Police Station in New Delhi district under Sections 352, 353(1)(c), 336(3), 336(4), 340(2) and 294 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
This comes a day after 17 protesters, including a woman journalist who had accused Mr Bhagat of sexually harassing and shoving her during the October 3 protest, were arrested by the Delhi Police. The Parliament Street police had booked the protesters for allegedly staging a demonstration demanding registration of an FIR against the ACP.
Investigators traced the Instagram account to 24-year-old Nadeem Ahmed Ameen, a resident of Palwal, Haryana, who described himself as an independent journalist and runs an Instagram news handle, News Aina Today.
According to the police, Mr Ameen was apprehended from the Mewat region of Haryana on October 5. A mobile phone used to circulate the incriminating reel was recovered from him.
The phone was found logged into the Instagram account @news_aaina0776, the police said. Investigators also found photographs and other content connected with the fabricated reel in the phone’s gallery, providing a digital trail linking the accused to its circulation.
Additional DCP, New Delhi, Manjeet said the accused had used AI tools to create the videos. According to the police, he created the video on October 3 and circulated it on social media platforms on October 4.
During questioning, the accused told the police that he intended to defame the Delhi Police, provoke the protesters and create unrest. He also said that he created the handle in April 2026 and actively started posting during the Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar in July.
The police are now examining the circumstances in which the video was created and circulated, including the accused’s sources of funding and associations. Investigators are also probing whether there was a larger pre-planned conspiracy to spread “instigation and anarchy” during the protest.
The police said they were also identifying other social media accounts involved in creating and circulating a false narrative aimed at tarnishing the image of the Delhi Police and spreading disaffection and dissatisfaction against the government.
Mr Ameen is the sixth of seven brothers and is the son of a retired government Urdu lecturer, according to the police. He had not cleared Class 10, the police said. His Instagram news handle, News Aina Today, was created in April 2026 and had around 24,000 subscribers.
The accused is expected to be taken into police custody for further investigation.
Published – October 06, 2026 12:56 pm IST
