Indian TikTok Star with 40k Followers arrested for Robberies

Indian TikTok star Shahrukh Khan has been arrested for his involvement in a series of robberies across the district of Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

The 23-year-old, who is from Bulandshahr, was involved in at least six robberies. Three accomplices have also been arrested.

He has a large following on TikTok in which he has more than 40,000 followers on the video-sharing app. Khan is known for sharing video clips of himself dancing.

He was caught after a case was registered by the Greater Noida Police against an armed gang.

Over several days, they had received a number of complaints where commuters had their mobile phones and cash stolen.

Officers received a tip-off about a group of thieves operating in the area, following which they were told to be on the lookout. The number of patrolling officers also increased.

Using CCTV footage, police officers identified and arrested the four suspects. TikTok celebrity Shahrukh Khan had led the group and his accomplices were identified as Asif, Faizan and Mukesh.

The police also recovered five stolen mobile phones, a bike used in a robbery and Rs. 3,200 (£36) in cash.

During questioning, they confessed to committing at least six of the robbery cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

Senior officer Ranvijay Singh said: “We were able to catch them with the help of CCTV footage from various locations in Greater Noida.

“They used to steal phones and cash from commuters and were active in Balta 2, Knowledge Park and Surjapur.”

Shahrukh, Asif and Faizan are from Bulandshahr while Mukesh is from Bihar.

Officers explained that Shahrukh used to target the victims and plan how to carry out the theft. His accomplices used to keep an eye on police movements.

Shahrukh would later distribute the stolen goods among his accomplices.

According to officers, Shahrukh committed the crime so that he could make “better TikTok videos to maintain his audience”.

Police explained that he is known for his dance videos and he is usually dancing to Bollywood songs.

In one video, which has over 1.2 million views, he is in Saudi Arabia dancing to an old Bollywood song.

In another, he is standing on top of a moving car while lip-syncing to a song from a Shahrukh Khan film and copying his poses.

Many of his videos feature expensive cars and officers believe he committed the robberies in order to fund his TikTok videos.