Social media influencer Vikas Fhatak, who is popularly known as Hindustani Bhau, has been arrested by Mumbai Police in connection with the students’ protest in Dharavi over their demand for online exams for classes 10 and 12.
Fhatak had uploaded a video of him on Instagram in which he could be allegedly seen instigating the students. An FIR has been registered against him and others under multiple sections of IPC (including that of rioting), Maharashtra Police Act, Disaster Management Act and Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.
On Monday, the police said it had emerged from the video that Fhatak had asked students to assemble in Dharavi area in Mumbai near the residence of Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad to demand cancellation of offline exams for classes 10 and 12.
A police official said the YouTuber will have to face the law as prima facie he had appealed to students to assemble at Ashok Mill Naka in Dharavi. He was also present near the spot.
Several hundred students protested on Monday afternoon at Ashok Mill Naka for their demands. The police responded with a mild baton charge to stop them from moving towards the minister’s residence in the vicinity.
Another police official said that Hindustani Bhau had visited the Dharavi police station requesting the police to not stop students from reaching Gaikwad’s residence. When senior police officers asked him to give a letter of demands and assured him that it will be forwarded to the minister, Bhau left the police station.
Hindustani Bhau, a former Bigg Boss contestant, is popular for his videos that are marked by the unique delivery of slang words through which he mainly targets Pakistan and other YouTubers from that country.
