ANANTAPUR: A viral sleaze video, purportedly of YSRC MP Gorantla Madhav making a call to an unidentified woman, is not original, Anantapur district SP Dr K Fakeerappa said on Wednesday, adding it cannot be immediately ascertained if it was morphed or not.The officer, however, did not rule out the possibility of the video being edited or morphed, since it was forwarded multiple times on social media. The MP had earlier claimed that it was a morphed video.
Police have found that the video was forwarded to Telugu Desam’s digital wing iTDP’s official WhatsApp group at 2.07 am on August 4. “It was forwarded from a number, +447443703968, which was added to the group a few seconds before the video was posted,” the SP said. The officer said the video was forwarded over five times before it was posted to the WhatsApp group. Preliminary probe traced the user of the said number to London. The mobile phone service provider has been asked to share the user’s details for further investigation. Sharing the details of the case, Fakeerappa said the person who received the call recorded the video with the help of an App.
“The recorded video was then sent to another person. While the receiver was watching the video, a third person recorded it with the help of a mobile phone and then made it viral on social media,’’ Fakeerappa explained.“As it was circulated widely on social media, we cannot say if it is original. So, we doubt that it might have been morphed or edited,” he said.
Police took up the probe after an Anantapur resident and Madhav’s follower, K Venkateswarlu, lodged a complaint seeking action against those trying to tarnish his leader’s image.To a query on why the MP’s phone was not analysed to confirm whether the video call was made, the SP said as the woman had not lodged a complaint, the police could not record the MP’s statement or seize his mobile.
Hindupur MP Gorantla Madhav blames TDP
Claiming that his innocence has been proved, MP Gorantla Madhav blamed TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and the party’s friendly media for the revolting episode. “This is a political conspiracy,’’ he said in New Delhi, adding that anti-backward community TDP was trying to defame him with the morphed video, and that he would take legal recourse