Man held for AI-generated poster of cop claimed to be a journalist, failed Class 10: Delhi Police

The 24-year-old man arrested for allegedly creating and circulating an AI-generated fake poster depicting a police officer sexually assaulting a woman had claimed to be an independent journalist and was running an Instagram account, Delhi police said on Tuesday.

The accused, Nadeem, studied in a madrassa in Saket and had failed to clear Class 10, they added.

Nadeem was arrested on Monday and later produced before a court, which granted police custody for further investigation.

Addressing a press conference, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Manjeet said Nabdeem claimed to be an independent journalist and had set up an Instagram account in April, which had around 24,000 followers and 1,226 posts.

The accused had allegedly uploaded and circulated the poster on social media, falsely depicting a police officer sexually assaulting a woman, police said.

Investigators are probing whether others were involved in the alleged conspiracy and are making efforts to identify them, the officer added.

It comes amid a controversy involving an assistant commissioner of police accused of sexually harassing a woman journalist during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar here.

ACP Vivek Bhagat was promoted to the rank of additional deputy commissioner on Monday, along with three other officers from his batch, but the order assigning his additional charge was withdrawn on Tuesday.

Bhagat, who was among 12 DANIPS officers assigned current duty charge of additional DCP, requested “of his own volition” not to avail the charge until a full inquiry into the alleged harassment of women journalists is conducted and “satisfactorily concluded”, the government said in a post on X.