Prank video to earn quick buck lands 2 youth in jail

Prateek Chauhan

New Delhi, January 14

Making prank videos and uploading them on social media, especially YouTube, to earn quick money and fame has caught youngsters’ fancy. The short cut to earn quick bucks, however, can go horribly wrong, as happened in the case of two BCA students from Gurgaon.   

Sumit Kumar Singh, 20, and Satayajeet Kadian, 25, have been arrested by the Delhi Police’s crime branch for alleged eve-teasing and uploading the incident on YouTube. The video in question purportedly shows Sumit kissing seemingly unsuspecting women and then running away in Connaught Place.

The police said the accused had denied the charge of eve-teasing and stated that the girls in the video were their friends, who were aware being shot for their YouTube channel. They said they made the video to make it viral to get ‘hits’ and earn big amount. 

For 1,000 likes on the social media website, they were reportedly getting Rs 750. The crime branch presently is interrogating the boys.

Joint Commissioner of Police (crime branch) Ravinder Yadav said on January 1 the cyber cell registered the case and started investigation after the video on YouTube account ‘Crazy Sumit’ got viral. 

With the help of information from the account, the police nabbed Sumit and Satyajeet, a resident of Jajjar, from Gurgaon’s Ashok Vihar Phase 3. 

The police recovered a video camera, a wireless mike among other things from Sumit, who hails from Lucknow. Sumit said three years ago he was seriously injured in a road accident and was on bed rest. He saw prank videos on YouTube and got an idea of earning money by making such videos. He has so far made uploaded 40 such videos on his account ‘Crazy Sumit’. The police said the girls’ statement was yet to taken.