Delhi DCP's resignation video is 'deep'fake, say police; FIR registered in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Cyber Police have registered A FIR over a deepfake viral video of Delhi Police Deputy Commissioner Sumit Jha, in which he is falsely shown announcing his resignation over the handling of recent student protests.

The complaint was filed by Nikhil Bhambre, a member of the BJP's social media team, after he came across the video on July 31, shared by Congress leader Bhai Jagtap.

What video contained

In the fabricated clip, a voice resembling DCP Jha claims he is quitting the force "immediately," alleging that the government had pressured him to publicly implicate protesting students on false charges.

"I was instructed to prove them guilty. I can't be a part of any such system which might prevent me from speaking the truth and compel me to implicate them on false charges. These students are not terrorists, they are the future of our nation. I joined the police force to stand with the truth, not to peddle lies," the AI-generated voice says in the video, adding, "From today, I am not with the government, but I stand with these students."

Captioned "I am resigning from service," the video was widely shared by Congress leaders and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the group behind the student agitation at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, which turned violent on July 20, when police and the Rapid Action Force used lathis and tear gas against protesters attempting to reach Parliament. The CJP called off its nationwide protest, after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan submitted his resignation on July 25.

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The clip uploaded to YouTube on July 28, had garnered thousands of views and likes, said reports.

Confirmed as fake

Delhi Police issued a fact-check on X calling the video "completely fake and AI generated," and appealed to the public to refrain from forwarding or sharing it, describing it as part of an orchestrated misinformation campaign.

The original footage, posted by Delhi Police on July 23, showed DCP Jha discussing an overseas misinformation campaign noting that over 400 Pakistan-based social media handles involved in coordinated disinformation had been identified and blocked, several of them linked to accounts previously active during Operation Sindoor.

Nowhere in the authentic video does Jha mention resignation or any pressure to lie about CJP-linked student protesters, said ANI.

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Independent fact-checkers, too who ran the clip through AI-detection tools, flagged a mismatch between the audio and Jha's lip movements, confirming the video had been manipulated.

The case

Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons under Section 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (statements causing public mischief) and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources), stating the video was circulated without verification to mislead the public amid the ongoing protests.