A Chennai-based YouTuber has been arrested for allegedly extorting and threatening a 27-year-old social media influencer who was found dead at his rented residence in Chennai, police said.
The influencer, who hailed from Puducherry and had more than 1.4 million followers, was found dead on October 20. Police are investigating the case as a suspected suicide.
The accused, identified as Jason Samuel Vijayakumar, 30, allegedly posted defamatory videos targeting the influencer and threatened him in an attempt to extort money, a police official said. He also allegedly got the influencer’s social media accounts blocked by Meta.
According to police, the influencer had been facing pressure over his financial advice content, which he was allegedly accused of sharing without a licence from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Police said the influencer was under severe mental stress before his death. Following a complaint by his father, a case was registered at Kanathur police station under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with abetment of suicide.
Investigators said witness statements and documents collected during the probe indicated the accused’s alleged role in the circumstances leading to the influencer’s death.
Vijayakumar was arrested on Thursday and produced before a judicial magistrate, who remanded him to judicial custody. The investigation is ongoing.
