'India's Got Latent' row: Ranveer Allahbadia fails to turn up before Mumbai police; asked to be present on Friday

Mumbai: Social media influencer Ranveer Allahbadia was asked to remain present at the Khar police station here on Friday after he failed to appear in connection with a probe into his controversial comments on a YouTube show, an official said.

The city police as well as Maharashtra Cyber Department have also asked comedian Samay Raina, who was a part of the controversial reality show "India's Got Latent", to appear before them in the next five days.

Allahbadia, who was expected to visit the Khar police station on Thursday, did not turn up, and told police that he was afraid of the media, an official said.

But it was made clear to him that he can not evade questioning and must come on Friday, the official added.

The cyber cell and the Mumbai police are conducting separate investigations over Allahbadia's 'obscene and vulgar' remarks that have caused much outrage across the country.

Samay Raina is currently in the US and has asked for time to appear before the authorities, said an official.

Mumbai police has asked him to record his statement before February 17, while the state cyber department has summoned him on February 18, he added.

An Assam Police team, which is in Mumbai in connection with a case registered by them against Allahbadia and four others in Guwahati, on Thursday met the Maharashtra cyber cell officials.

Mumbai Police (Khar police station) has so far recorded the statements of seven persons, including social media influencer Apoorva Makhija, one of the participants of the YouTube show, on a complaint filed by a BJP functionary. But they have not registered any FIR yet.

The state cyber department has summoned more than 40 persons, including Allahbadia and Raina, asking them to join the probe into a First Information Report it has registered over Allahbadia's remarks. On Tuesday, it also issued notices to `guests' and `judges' who had participated in the past episodes of "India's Got Latent".

Allahbadia, who has more than 16 million followers across social media platforms, landed in the soup after a video of his controversial comments on parents and sex started making the rounds on social media.

He later issued a video apology, calling his comment a "lapse in judgement", but the issue has refused to die down.

The issue was also raised in Parliament by Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske, who called for a law to regulate social media.