‘Savukku’ Shankar presents falsehoods as facts for financial gain, IPS officer Arun claims before Madras High Court

IPS officer A. Arun. | Photo credit: R. RAGU

YouTuber A. Shankar alias ‘Savukku’ Shankar has repeatedly shown a penchant for making false statements, fabricating narratives and spreading misleading information among people for sensationalism, personal defamation, public attention, online engagement and financial gain, Indian Police (IPS) officer A. Arun charged in the Madras High Court.

Mr. Arun filed a defamation suit seeking ₹1 million in damages, accusing the YouTuber of giving people the false impression that he was in possession of confidential, authentic and confidential information about senior police officers, politicians, civil servants, businessmen, corporations and others in positions of responsibility, when in fact he was stating falsehoods as facts.

Justice K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi gave Mr. Shankar time till September 16, 2026 to respond to the charges. After hearing senior counsel for the plaintiff PH Arvind Pandian, the judge granted the YouTuber’s lawyer K. Gowtham Kumar as well as advocate Arun C. Mohan for X Corporation time to file counter-affidavits to the plaintiff’s requests for an injunction.

In his plea, Mr Arun, a 1998-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, said he had earned a high degree of respect, reputation and goodwill during his career. He also claimed that he was recognized for his integrity, honesty, professional competence, discipline and dedication to public service. However, according to him, the YouTuber had been targeting the plaintiff for a long time.

“The first defendant (Mr. Shankar) has repeatedly abused the freedom of speech and expression and sought to abuse online platforms to smear and damage the reputation, character, integrity and professional standing of the plaintiff… The defamatory publications seriously damage the personal reputation, professional standing and family life,” the suit reads.

Mr. Arun provided links to all the offending YouTube videos, X posts and other defamatory content posted against him by the defendant on social media platforms and stated that the YouTuber’s activities were commercially motivated and he was getting financial incentives to publish sensational falsehoods and defamatory material capable of attracting maximum viewership and engagement.

The court was told that the YouTuber called the senior IPS officer a “gangster”, a “coolie” working for political masters, a person who manipulates the criminal justice system for ulterior purposes, a corrupt individual and so on. In most of the videos, the IPS officer was referred to by name and in others he was described as ‘ice cream officer’ or just ‘ice cream’,” the prosecutor said.

Mr. Arun denied the allegations leveled against him in these videos and X posts, saying that the YouTuber had falsely tweeted on July 15, 2026 that an income tax search was being conducted at the plaintiff’s residence and his wife B. Yamuna Devi, an Indian Revenue Service official, was also facing corruption charges. The tweet attributed false information to central government sources and also included photographs of the couple.

The prosecutor said the tweet was edited on the same day and replaced with another false, fabricated and malicious claim that officials from the Enforcement Directorate had arrived at the IPS officer’s residence to conduct a search. “The use of photographs coupled with a sensational headline and false attribution to central government sources was calculated to lend a false impression of authenticity,” he added.

Published – 13 Sep 2026 0:17 IST