New Delhi: The Special Cell of Delhi Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan for allegedly sharing a digitally altered video of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on social media platform X.

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The police action follows cyber surveillance on November 3, which flagged a post highlighting that Bhushan’s handle had circulated a fabricated video clip. The altered media falsely depicted the Russian Foreign Minister levelling critical remarks against India’s domestic affairs and crude oil procurement policies, which Bhushan had captioned as a “tight slap” against the Indian government.

According to Delhi Police, the video was circulated with the intent of spreading misinformation, defaming institutions, and inciting public unrest through fabricated content. Police have registered FIR No. 263/26 under Sections 336(4) (forgery), 353(1)(c) (public mischief), 356 (defamation), and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), alongside Section 66C of the Information Technology Act.

Official fact-checking units moved swiftly to counter the viral clip. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Fact Check unit issued a formal alert on X categorising the video as fake news. Concurrently, the Russian Embassy in New Delhi issued a clarification rejecting the statements attributed to Lavrov and confirming that both the audio track and sub-captions were completely fabricated.

 

Agencies