BJP MLA Randhir Singh on Tuesday claimed that the video clip, in which a man purported to be Singh is seen defending cyber criminals, was doctored and released online as a conspiracy by his political opponents to defame the former minister.

“My opponents have released that doctored video to tarnish my image as a part of a conspiracy against me. I have spoken to my lawyers and decided to take strict legal action against the people behind this conspiracy,” said Singh, adding that the video clip too should be thoroughly examined by concerned agencies.

A video clip, in which a man purported to be Singh is seen defending cyber criminals and threatening to gherao police stations if the people of his constituency are harassed unnecessarily over cyber crimes, went viral on social media platforms recently. In the video, the man purported to be Singh is addressing a public gathering and openly lauding the people of his constituency for being smart enough to dupe the educated people of other states through cyber fraud.

“Nobody has ever been able to dupe any resident of my constituency. If illiterate people of our region are so smart that they can dupe people of other states then whose fault is it?” the man in the video clip asks. “Why do the literate people of other states provide their personal details to callers over the phone? If police harass our people, then I will have no option but to gherao police stations,” he adds.

Singh is a two-time MLA from Sarath, a constituency that shares its borders with Jamtara. Jamtara, which has gained the infamy of being the cyber crime capital of the country, is home to several gangs of “Panchvi Fail” cybercriminals, who have duped several rich and educated people living in the metros, say police. Around 200 Kilometers north of Ranchi, Jamtara is said to be the Indian equivalent of the Romanian town of Ra^mnicu Va^lcea, dubbed Scamville, which is the global capital for cyber criminals. Last year, Netflix released a web series on the cyber criminals of Jamtara and named it ‘Jamtara – Sabka Number Ayega’.

A visibly infuriated Singh on Tuesday said that he would not stop at taking legal actions against the people who have allegedly doctored the video to tarnish his image, but also sue the new channels that have run the video clip without establishing its authenticity. “This is clearly a case of defaming me and the culprits will not be spared,” Singh said.