‘India’s Got Latent’ row: Maharashtra police refuse Samay Raina more time, serve him 2nd summons | Mumbai News
The Maharashtra state cyber police have refused to grant YouTuber Samay Raina more time to join the investigation in the case registered against him, podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia and others over an “obscene joke” Allahbadia made during the comedian’s India’s Got Latent show.
Raina’s lawyer sought more time from the cyber police for her client, stating that he was travelling overseas, but the police declined the request and served him a second summons, asking him to appear before them on February 17, said a cyber police source on Thursday.
A controversy has erupted over an episode of India’s Got Latent where Allahbadia asked a contestant: “Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once and stop it forever?”
The show and its artists, especially Allahbadia and Raina, received sharp criticism from netizens, film stars, other celebrities, politicians and the general public. The Assam police were the first to register an FIR over the show, followed by the Maharashtra cyber police.
The cyber police summoned Raina, Allahbadia, influencer Apoorva Mukhija and other artists, comedians, influencers, content creators, YouTubers, actors, participants and organisers of Raina’s show after booking them all in the case.
None of the accused have appeared before the cyber police yet, though lawyers for some of them did approach the police. The police have also requested YouTube to take down all episodes of Raina’s show containing objectionable language.
On Wednesday Raina said on social media that he had removed all India’s Got Latent videos from his YouTube channel and that he would fully cooperate with all agencies to ensure their inquiries are concluded fairly.
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Earlier, Allahbadia posted a video and apologised for his “insensitive jokes”.
The Mumbai police are also inquiring into the matter and have recorded statements from Apoorva Mukhija and Ashish Chanchlani.
