Six held for trying to extort ₹5 crore from MLC Mirza Rahmat Baig with deepfakes

Police in Hyderabad have arrested six people for allegedly threatening Mirza Rahmat Baig, a member of the Telangana Legislative Council (MLC), with fake videos made using artificial intelligence and demanding ₹5 crore to keep them off social media.

Narsingi police made the arrests on Friday, 6 November. According to the police, the group threatened to circulate morphed photographs and deepfake videos of the MLC unless he paid, warning that they would ruin his political and social standing; they also threatened his life. The six, aged between 18 and 35, include a woman. Police say others involved are still at large.

The accused had already collected part of the money, police said. Reports differ on how much: one says ₹4 lakh in cash was handed over in a box at the MLC’s office on 5 November, another puts it at ₹5 lakh. Police seized ₹4.70 lakh in cash, two autorickshaws, six mobile phones and a laptop.

Mr. Baig has dismissed the material as false and asked people not to believe those trying to defame him. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) expelled him in August for what it called serious indiscipline and misconduct, but he remains a member of the Council. Some weeks earlier he had complained to the city’s cyber crime police about extortion calls; it is not clear whether that complaint is linked to this case.

The bigger picture

Cheap AI tools have made it easy to fabricate convincing videos of anyone, and public figures across India are increasingly targeted with fake clips, for extortion as well as for political attacks. Extortion is punishable with up to seven years in prison under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and with longer terms when it involves a threat to life; publishing doctored images can also attract charges under the Information Technology Act.

Police said they were still tracing the others involved in the case.