Singer and rapper Badshah was summoned to appear before Mumbai Police for questioning on Saturday regarding the fake views scam. The rapper claimed that he has provided aid to the Police and co-operated with them and has also denied all allegations leveled against him. However, Mumbai Police have revealed that Badshah confessed to buying fake views for his song Pagal Hai for Rs 72 lakh to set a world record.
Nandkumar Thakur, the deputy commissioner of police, told Mumbai Mirror, "The singer confessed that he wanted to set a world record for the most number of viewers in 24 hours on YouTube. That is why he paid Rs 72 lakh to this company." The officials claimed that Badshah has confessed to paying for 7.2 crore views for the music video Pagal Hai which garnered 75 million times on the first day of its release. It had made a world record defeating previous records set by Taylor Swift and the Korean boy band BTS. The claim was rejected by Google.
The officials also said that they are investigating further into the matter and scrutinizing his other songs posted on social media.
On Saturday, Badshah had issued a statement denying his involvement in the fake social media followers scam. The statement read, "Following the summons, I have spoken to the Mumbai Police. I have aided the officials in their investigation by cooperating and carrying out the due diligence on my part. I have categorically denied all the allegations levelled against me and made it clear that I was never involved in such practices, nor do I condone them. The investigation procedure is being executed in accordance with the law and I have complete faith in the authorities, who are handling this matter. I would like to thank all those who have conveyed their concern to me. It means a lot to me."
Till date, the Mumbai Police have investigated at least 20 prominent personalities.
The developments came after the Mumbai Police busted the scam on July 14 through analytical technical-intelligence and nabbed one person, following a complaint lodged by Bollywood playback singer Bhoomi Trivedi.
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