LUCKNOW: YouTuber Puneet Superstar (Prakash Kumar), known for his bizarre and cringe videos, landed in legal soup for calling former UP CM and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati ‘mummy.’
Puneet was booked by Ghaziabad police following strong protests by BSP leaders. In one of his videos, he had also called Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav ‘papa’ recently.
Puneet, on Tuesday, posted a video on his Instagram account addressing BSP chief Mayawati as 'Mummy' while attaching her photo to his clip. Puneet has 10.8 crore followers in Instagram.
The video, in which he repeatedly referred to the BSP chief as 'mummy' mockingly, went viral, drawing sharp reaction from BSP workers as they found it “deeply insulting and derogatory."
On Wednesday evening, BSP Ghaziabad district president Narendra Mohit, accompanied by Mandal Prabhari Dayaram Sain, Metropolitan Vice-President Pankaj Sharma, and District General Secretary Lekhraj Bauddh, approached Shalimar Garden Police Station in Ghaziabad and submitted a complaint.
According to the complaint, Puneet, a resident of Bhopura Extension-2, Ghaziabad, used his Instagram account under the handle puneetsuperr_star to mock BSP chief Mayawati.
She is popularly known as ‘Behenji’ among her supporters and in political circles.
“Such acts are intended to disrupt social harmony and spread disrespect towards a leader who commands immense respect across the country," the complaint stated.
Narendra Mohit, also an advocate, urged the police to take the strictest possible legal action to ensure that “no one dares to indulge in such indecent behaviour against public figures in the future."
Ghaziabad DCP Nimish Patil confirmed that a case was lodged against the YouTuber under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act.
Facing mounting criticism and an FIR, Puneet quickly posted another video on Instagram, apologising for his actions.
Folding his hands in the video, he said: “Greetings my friends, last night I made a video about former Chief Minister Mayawati ji. My intention was not to hurt anyone’s feelings. If anyone’s sentiments have been hurt, I fold my hands and apologise. I will never make such a mistake again. Jai Shri Ram."
The apology video also went viral but little did it pacify BSP workers, who kept on demanding strict action against the social media content creator.
However, Puneet_Superstar seems to have a penchant for such antics.
Recently, he had posted another video calling Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav his “Papa" and urged him to buy an iPhone 16 Pro Max. The video had generated quite a buzz online.
Over the years, Puneet has built an identity around his unconventional and cringe-inducing content, which has helped him amass millions of followers.
However, he has also invited criticism for crossing limits, for being disrespectful and creating content in bad taste.
He has more than 208K subscribers on YouTube but earned more fame on Instagram where his short clips consistently attract massive engagement.
In 2023, he had featured in Bigg Boss OTT Season 2 with a 24-hour stint inside the house. His behavour was then described as 'cringe'.