New twist in Madhav video row; AP CID says expert's certificate not original

AMARAVATI: The suspense around the controversial video allegedly involving YSRCP Hindupur MP Gorantla Madhav is turning into a nerve-wracking thriller with new twists and turns added to it. Days after the TDP flaunted purported forensic evidence from a US tech expert's certification, the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (AP CID) on Thursday trashed the opposition party's contention in no uncertain terms.

Addressing a press conference here, Additional Director General (ADG) and AP CID chief Sunil Kumar said that the certificate published by Eclipse forensics on the veracity of the video of Gorantla Madhav was not authentic.

On investigation, Eclipse forensic's Jim Stafford informed that the alleged certificate in circulation was not original, he added. Furthermore, in what would run straight across the TDP's face, he clarified that the certificate was not provided by Jim at all.

According to the AP CID boss, Jim Stafford clarified his position on the whole episode in an email sent to the ADG. Jim, in his email, said: "I was not asked to determine the authenticity of the video being played and have not offered an opinion of it. Without examining it I cannot speculate whether it is authentic or not."

Jim also claimed that Prasad Pothini (the man who first asked him to conduct the forensic test on the video) had requested two minor changes to the report. "He did not wait for me to make the changes and he circulated the reports on social media", he said.

The ADG, during the press meet, said that any video could only be examined by forensics if the original source of the video could be determined. Jim has also informed in the mail that the video provided to him was recorded on a mobile device while it was being played on another media device, he added.

The video in circulation is not the original content and therefore, the forensics cannot determine its authenticity, the AP CID chief concluded.

The latest CID statement is expected to provide much-needed breather for the beleaguered MP who is in the eye of storm, being stoked by the TDP and other opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh. In the process, the clarification also seeks to take the fizz out of the TDP's claims which the party has been using to mount an all-out attack against Madhav, the YSRCP government and YS Jaganmohan Reddy in an apparent bid to score some brownie points.

But given the mood of the TDP on this issue, it will be premature to assume that the AP CID statement has laid the controversy to rest, once and for all.