Crime Branch says video recorded in 2024 was later uploaded online to gain followers
A screenshot of the video.
PANAJI
Nineteen months after he allegedly recorded a video in the Baga tourist area and days after it went viral on social media, a 48-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh has been arrested by the Crime Branch for uploading the clip. Police said it was a deliberate attempt to gain online followers.
The accused, Saurabh Sahni, was traced to Lucknow and brought to Goa after the Crime Branch took suo motu cognisance of the viral video on April 14. The clip, which began circulating widely earlier this week, showed men allegedly speaking to a foreign woman near the end of Tito’s Lane in Baga.
According to a statement by Crime Branch Superintendent of Police Rahul Gupta, Sahni admitted during questioning that he had recorded the video on September 19, 2024, at 1.19 am. However, he kept it stored on his hard drive for over a year and a half before uploading it this month.
The SP said Sahni first posted the video on his YouTube channel, ‘Realduniya007’, on April 12, 2026, to increase his subscriber count. “However, as the video did not get enough views, he later uploaded the same clip on his personal Facebook account under his name,” Gupta said.
Police said this changed the direction of the case from a recent incident to the use of old footage that was reused to attract attention and increase online traffic.
Gupta also said Sahni admitted he uploaded the video without blurring the face of the foreign woman seen in the clip.
The case was solved after the Social Media Monitoring Cell in Panaji traced the video to the YouTube channel and linked it to the Facebook account. The PRISM unit then carried out technical analysis to identify the uploader.
A Crime Branch team later went to Lucknow, where Sahni was taken into custody and brought to Goa.
The SP said the woman seen in the video, a foreign national, has been traced and her statement has been recorded. “Crime Branch has successfully traced the woman seen in the video, who is a foreign national, and recorded her statement. Investigation is in progress to trace other persons seen in the clip,” Gupta said.
An FIR has been registered against five persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and BNSS, along with Sections 67 and 67-A of the Information Technology Act, which deal with publishing and sharing objectionable and sexually explicit content online.
The video allegedly showed a foreign woman near the Calangute–Baga road, where men can be heard asking about “rates” and duration.
