Delhi Police say a ‘CCTV’ reel of a named ACP molesting a woman journalist at a protest was AI-generated; Haryana man arrested, her allegation unresolved

The reel. According to Additional DCP (New Delhi) Manjeet Sheoran, speaking at a Delhi Police press conference on 6 October 2026, a video circulated on Instagram and Facebook Reels was presented as genuine CCTV footage showing a person dressed as a police officer engaging in inappropriate conduct with a woman, with ACP Vivek Bhagat’s photograph, name and designation displayed alongside it so that it appeared to show him. ThePrint, which saw a screenshot shown at the press conference, describes a photograph of the officer in a box alongside the complainant, an image of the officer ‘misbehaving’ with her in the centre, the subtitle ‘CCTV footage’ and a Hindi caption saying the officer groped the journalist when she asked questions and then ran away.

The AI claim. The police say the page’s operator used AI tools to generate the footage and that, after the New Delhi district cyber wing raised the alert, a technical test confirmed it was an AI-generated video. They also say he confessed to having access to many AI tools and to making the video to malign the image of Delhi Police and cause unrest. The tool is not identified, no independent examiner is reported, and the confession is reported only by the police.

Circulation and reported effect. Police say the post was made on 3 October and circulated on 4 October, and that this circulation caused agitation among protesters on Sunday 4 October. The Tribune reports that police are identifying other accounts allegedly involved in creating a false narrative against the force.

The arrest. A man from Palwal, Haryana, described by police as a self-styled independent journalist who runs an Instagram news page created in April 2026, was arrested in the Mewat region on 5 October. A phone recovered from him was logged into the account that circulated the reel and held content linked to it, police say. An FIR for forgery, public mischief by spreading fake news and attempt to provoke a breach of the peace was registered, and ThePrint reports that he was produced in a Delhi court on Monday. Police say they are investigating his funding, associates and whether a larger conspiracy was behind the reel.

The separate allegation. A woman journalist covering the 3 October protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had complained that the officer groped and shoved her when she objected to women protesters being detained without women officers present, and that he fled when confronted. ThePrint notes that the reel’s contents resemble her allegation, that no FIR had been filed against the officer, and that besides the purported footage no proof of the alleged incident had emerged. India Today adds that the Crime Branch was examining sexual-harassment complaints by three women journalists against police personnel at the protest, and that the Delhi government put the officer’s new assignment on hold after he asked not to take charge until the inquiry was complete.

What is not established. Whether the clip was AI-generated rests on the police’s technical test and the reported confession; the accused’s own account outside police custody is not reported. The truth of the journalist’s allegation is a separate, unresolved question that the police’s finding about the reel does not settle.

According to Delhi Police, a reel generated with AI tools and presented as CCTV footage falsely portrayed a named assistant commissioner of police molesting a woman journalist and was circulated on Instagram and Facebook on 4 October 2026; police say the circulation caused agitation among protesters. The officer is the depicted person; the complainant was also depicted, and her own harm from the reel is not reported.

Police say a man from Palwal, Haryana was arrested in the Mewat region on 5 October 2026, that a phone logged into the Instagram account used to circulate the reel was recovered, and that an FIR was registered at the New Delhi district cyber police station for forgery, public mischief by spreading fake news and attempt to provoke a breach of the peace; ThePrint reports he was produced in a Delhi court on Monday 5 October. Police say they are investigating funding, associates and a possible wider conspiracy. No FIR had been filed against the officer over the journalist’s complaint; the Crime Branch was examining three women journalists’ harassment complaints, and the Delhi government put the officer’s new assignment on hold at his request pending an inquiry.