Racial abuse video row: Amir Shokeen sent to five-day police custody

New Delhi, October 24 (IANS): A Delhi court on Saturday sent social media influencer Amir Shokeen to five days of police custody in connection with the racial harassment and humiliation case of an individual from Tripura, depicted in a video circulating on social media.The accused was produced in the Tis Hazari Court, which sent him to five days' police custody.The police stated that they still need to recover a mobile phone and travel to Ahmedabad. The defence counsel argued that the exact location is not yet known, only that it is somewhere in Ahmedabad.After hearing both sides, the court granted 5 days of police custody for the accused.Shokeen was arrested by the Delhi Police from the Karol Bagh area on Thursday.This came as the one-day judicial custody ended on Saturday. Earlier on Friday, the Tis Hazari Court had remanded Shokeen to one day judicial custody.According to the police, Shokeen had made the controversial video about a month ago.Earlier, Shokeen apologised after the offensive video surfaced on social media and earned him major backlash.In a Facebook post, Shokeen claimed that the video was scripted and that the man featured in it was known to him.He said the man had previously worked at a friend's cafe in Ahmedabad and described the exchange as a humorous video in which both people were joking.The social media influencer noted that he had no intention of insulting anyone.This is not the first time that an FIR has been filed against Amir Shokeen.Previously, cases under Sections 323, 324, 504, and 506 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) had been registered against the influencer, officials added.