Indian YouTuber comes under CBI investigation after 'fake' documents surrounding Sridevi's death

Deepti R Pinniti, a YouTuber from Bhubaneshwar investigating the deaths of Bollywood celebrities, has been citing forged documents to support her claims, Hindustan Times reported.

For the past few years, Pinniti has been digging deeper into the deaths of Bollywood celebrities. To investigate the death of Indian superstar Sridevi, who was found dead in the bathtub of her hotel room in Dubai in February 2018, Pinniti revealed in a video that her team travelled to Dubai to source ‘original documents’ from the hospital and also had witnesses to comment on the case. 

Across her social media accounts, Pinniti, a self-proclaimed businesswoman, has been investigating the deaths of other Bollywood celebrities as well. She has made similar claims over the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found hanging from the ceiling of his room on June 14, 2020. As evidence, on her social media accounts, Pinniti 'revealed' letters from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the domestic crime investigating agency of India, has found that Pinniti’s evidence has been faked. Following a complaint from Mumbai-based lawyer Chandni Shah, the CBI has filed charges against Pinniti. Last December, the CBI conducted a raid of the YouTuber’s home and seized her phones and laptops as evidence. 

The investigation revealed that the documents presented by Pinniti during YouTube discussions about the prime minister and the defence minister were "forged", the CBI stated in a report submitted to a special court. Pinniti continues to stand her ground. In response to her charges, Pinniti said that the CBI did not record her statement regarding the case. 

"When the letters in question are incriminating against the very authorities under whom the CBI comes, CBI becomes a party of conflict to be the entity to collect evidence," said Pinniti when talking to the press. 

In one of her videos, Pinniti explained that in addition to using her social media influence, she had also taken her own evidence to court, but to no avail. "Many people ask me why I share these documents on social media and don't go to the court,’ said Pinniti in a video, before adding, ‘I have already approached a court.’  

Whether Pinniti will continue her investigations after her recent charges remains to be seen.  

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