Rajasthan conman gets bail in CM Vijay deepfake case

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has granted conditional bail to a man accused of creating morphed AI videos of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and circulating them on Facebook to fleece the public online.

According to the prosecution, Shyabu Khan, a resident of Rajasthan, created fake AI-generated videos impersonating Chief Minister Vijay on Facebook to lure the public into seeking assistance. He allegedly operated two Facebook profiles, “All India Help Vijay Thalapati” and “All India Help,” and circulated digitally manipulated videos asking people to contact him for help in return for registration fees.

Based on a complaint, police arrested Shyabu Khan on September 12, 2026, for offences under Sections 204, 318(2), 319(2), 336(3), and 340(2) of the BNS, and Sections 66C and 66D of the IT Act.

Shyabu Khan subsequently filed a bail petition before the Madras High Court. Justice N Ramesh granted him conditional bail, noting that he had been in judicial custody since September 12, 2026, the investigation had been completed, the chargesheet was ready, and the mobile phone allegedly used in the offence had been seized.

The court directed him to appear daily before the DSP, CB-CID Cyber Crime Cell.