Officials claimed that during questioning, Badshah confessed that he’d purchased around 7.2 crore views for Rs 72 lakh, in order to set a world record for most YouTube views in the first 24 hours. It was reported after a 10-hour long interrogation by the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU).

Nandkumar Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police, told Mumbai Mirror: “”The singer confessed that he wanted to set a world record for most number of viewers in 24 hours on YouTube. That is why he paid ₹ 72 lakh to this company.”

Badshah is being questioned in connection to a racket that sells fake followers and views to social media influencers. The probe began after a complaint from Bhumi Trivedi who chanced upon what looked like a fake profile of herself online. This led to the uncovering of an alleged racket in which celebrities and influencers can buy likes and followers on social media to boost their visibility. Badshah has denied any wrongdoing though. He had claimed that the music video for Pagal Hai had been watched 75 million times in the first day of its release, beating previous records set by Taylor Swift and the Korean boy band BTS. The claim was rejected by Google.