By Hera Rizwan
"Drive a Swift. If you can't afford a Porsche like me, then why do you attempt high speed driving." This was the text shared on the story of an Instagram account which goes by the name of Cringistaan2. The Instagram account, boasting over 66k followers, regularly shares meme content, often of a controversial nature, and also produces reels featuring public pranks.
On May 24, the account uploaded a rap song regarding the Pune car crash. In a follow-up track, rife with profanity, shared via Instagram Stories, the individual intentionally portrayed himself as the 17-and-a-half-year-old boy, who in an inebriated state, collided his Porsche with a motorcycle at Pune’s Kalyani Nagar junction during the early hours of May 19, 2024.
Tragically, the collision resulted in the fatalities of Aneesh Awadhiya (24) and Ashwini Koshta (25), who were riding the motorcycle. Subsequently, there was a significant public outcry regarding the minor's bail conditions, which included tasks such as composing a "300-word essay" on road safety and committing to a 15-day period of volunteering with traffic authorities to familiarise himself with traffic regulations.
Following this, Marathi news channels such as ABP, News18 Lokmat, NDTV, and Hindustan Times Marathi reported that the juvenile defendant involved in the Pune Porsche crash had created a rap song filled with expletives, boasting about obtaining bail effortlessly despite causing the deaths of two individuals in the accident.
However, BOOM in its fact-check found that the individual running the Cringistaan2 account is not the same person as the accused. It was found that the rap song was made by a Delhi based youngster who goes by the name Aryan Neekhara and runs multiple accounts. However, we could not independently verify if this is his real name.
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Offensive Rap and Unconsented Filming
As per his LinkedIn profile, the YouTuber who posted the rap song on Aryan Dev Neekhra is a 2023 Delhi University pass out. He is currently working as a 'meme marketer' at No Gravity Media. The New Delhi-based company is an audio-visual production company "dedicated to providing high-quality services to brands, content creators, video editors, filmmakers, and music producers".
On the incident of the Pune Porsche crash, Neekhra uploaded a rap song filled with expletives and gloating that the teenager was granted bail easily and that he would repeat the act. All the while in his rap video lyrics, he referred to himself as the minor accused. Now deleted, the video was shared by ABP Majha, the Marathi channel of ABP news. The story was uploaded in Marathi with the headline roughly translating to, "Ek Din Mein Mujhe Mil Gayi Bail... Fir Se Dikhaunga Sadak Pe Khel. Pune Builder's Son's Gloating, Annoying Act After The Accident, Abusive Rap Song After Getting Bail."
Decode examined Neekhra's social media profiles, which showcase brief vlogs depicting his attempts to prank unsuspecting individuals and capture their spontaneous responses. Comments on his videos either hail him for being a "great prankster" or diss him for "creating nuisance at public places".
Neekhra has two Instagram accounts, one YouTube channel, a LinkedIn account and an X account. While his LinkedIn and X account are not much active, he posts regularly on Instagram and YouTube. Neekhra has garnered over 1.5k subscribers on YouTube and over 67k followers on Instagram.
The majority of these prank videos feature Neekhra approaching shopkeepers or randomly knocking on doors of houses, uttering incomprehensible phrases, all the while capturing people's reactions on camera. While most of the agitated shopkeepers end up escorting him out, the house owners shut their doors after seeing through the farce.
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For instance, in one of his latest reels, Neekhra goes up to a kiosk selling trolley bags at a mall and asks the salesman to guide him to the biggest bag available which could accommodate "35 bodies". In a made-up American accent he says, "I don't care about the money, I am filthy rich."
In some of his videos, he poses as a 'retard' and annoys people at the Connaught Place in Delhi, while making comments on their clothes and physique. One of his prank videos features him walking up to a group of girls and asking them for their number after complimenting their "smiles".
He portrays himself as an unapologetic prankster who tries to get laughs from his audience at the expense of the people he records. He, however, does that without seeking their consent. Many a times, people in his videos get annoyed at Neekhra for barging into their personal space and recording them without permission.
In one of the videos, Neekhra barges into a doctor's clinic requesting a medical check-up without prior notice. In another, he rushes a man sitting in an office outside, claiming there was an accident on the road.
In both the instances, the other person can be seen visibly angry and irked at the vlogger.
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