Kerala YouTuber arrested for publicly making objectionable remarks

PTI, Jun 23, 2023, 6:04 PM IST

A controversial YouTuber who has been accused of making allegedly objectionable remarks and creating a traffic block on a busy road at a recent inauguration of a shop, was arrested on Friday morning, police said.

He was taken into custody from a house in Kochi early in the morning and his arrest was recorded after taking him to Valanchery in northern Malappuram, where the incident took place some days ago, they said.

YouTuber ‘Thoppi’, who has a large number of followers on social media platforms, was booked on Thursday based on the complaint of a local public activist.

The original name of the 24-year-old accused is Nihad, and he is a native of Kannur district. His YouTube channel has lakhs of subscribers, especially children.

A police official said they had to break open the door of his room as the YouTuber was reluctant to open it despite repeated requests.

”We waited for half an hour. Still he didn’t open the doors. So, we were forced to break it open and took him into custody,” he told PTI.

The official said they also feared the YouTuber might destroy the evidence in his phone and laptop if he got more time.

”Thoppi” put his phone on live record and posted the arrival of the police and his custody details through social media.

During the live streaming, the youtuber claimed that police was trying to take him into custody for political reasons.

The cops just wanted to distract the attention of the people from ongoing political issues, he further claimed.

In the video, it could be seen how the police broke open the bottom half of the door when the man continued to be remained inside the room.

Police later took his gadgets including his computer into their custody as part of the investigation.

As per the complaint, the YouTuber recently caused a traffic congestion for hours on the busy road in Valanchery here. A large number of people, especially youths and teenagers, had turned up for the programme, police said.

The YouTuber was also accused of using obscene words while singing songs and making objectionable remarks during the programme, police said.

The case was registered under various sections of the IPC for causing a traffic jam and for publicly using objectionable words, they said. IPC Sections including 283 (obstruction in public way) and 294 (b) (sings, recites or utters any obscene song) and section 67 of the IT Act (publishes in electronic form sexually explicit content) have been slapped against the accused, the officer said.

According to the FIR, a case was registered against the owner of the shop also under the same sections.

Kannapuram police in neighbouring Kannur district also registered a case against ‘Thoppi’ under the IT Act for similar objectionable remarks.

Meanwhile, the Kerala police, in their official Facebook handle, warned against creating contents that incite hatred and enmity in the society.

They also shared a brief video of the controversial youtuber and the visuals of his arrest.

”Thoppi is under arrest. Strict legal action will be taken against those who make money through social media by creating contents that go against the culture and ethical values of the country and incite hatred and division in the society,” the police said.

Amassing money in this manner is a crime equivalent to making cash through illegal means, the FB post further said.