India’s Got Latent host Samay Raina joked about his long association with Maharashtra Cyber Cell, the cybercrime wing of the state police, and called its cyber helpline 1930 a ‘great number’ during the felicitation ceremony of its event on Wednesday,
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was launching “Digital Arrest”, a cyber-awareness short film, and the 1930 Maharashtra Cyber Anthem.
Raina was one of the contributors to the film and the cyber anthem, alongside actors Ashish Vidyarthi, Pankaj Tripathi, Sharad Kelkar, Sonali Bendre, Javed Jaffrey and Mangesh Desai, as well as singer Sunidhi Chauhan.
‘1930 is really a great number…’
At the event, Raina, in his usual comic charm, thanked Fadnavis for the felicitation and joked that his association with the cybercrime wing had been long.
“Thank you for the felicitation, sir. My association with Maha Cyber has been going on for a very long time,” he said.
From personal experience, Raina said, “1930 is really a great number. I have actually saved it because I often get calls from there.”
“The Maha Cyber Cell is very active. I can tell you this for sure—whether you are there or whether you are in India, they will catch you,” he joked. “It’s a brilliant thing.”
He also noted that it was the first time the Cyber Cell had picked up a comedian from home to felicitate them.
“Today, for the first time, it has happened that a Cyber Cell officer went to a comedian’s house and picked him up from his home, and this time there has been a felicitation,” Raina said.
Samay Raina controversy
Raina was in the crosshairs with the Maharashtra Cyber Cell last year over his YouTube show India’s Got Latent, and faced legal action for allegedly promoting obscenity and sexually explicit content. The row was triggered after guest podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia made a highly inappropriate comment to a contestant.
An FIR was filed against Raina, Allahbadia and other influencers associated with the show. When initially summoned for questioning, Raina, who was touring the United States at the time, requested to record his statement via video conferencing. However, the Maharashtra Cyber Cell firmly rejected this request, insisting on an in-person appearance and subsequently issuing multiple summons to ensure compliance.
Amid mounting legal pressure, Raina eventually appeared before the Cyber Cell officials in Mumbai for interrogation and acknowledged his mistakes, expressing regret for the controversial remarks. He also said the incident had negatively impacted his mental health.
Raina also removed all India’s Got Latent Season 1 videos from his YouTube channel.
“Full circle” moment: Netizens react
Raina’s comment section was flooded with comments from friends and fans alike, who congratulated him for the “full circle” moment.
“If you wait long enough, Life comes full circle,” Balraj Ghai — Raina’s close friend and founder of The Habitat — commented.
“Winner of the unexpected collabs😭🙌🏻” said Indie Habitat.
“What a full circle moment,” said mentalist Suhani Shah.
“One learning from Samay no matter what may happen in life comeback is possible at Gods speed! Never give up people. Be at it!” content creator Deepti commented.
Some fans also suspected that the video was AI-generated.
“Mujhe laga yeh AI video thii 😭🙏🏻” a social media user commented.
Another joked, “Wow. ai has really improved so much. 😮”
About the Author
Arshdeep Kaur
Arshdeep Kaur is a Senior Content Producer at Mint, where she reports and edits across national and international politics, business and culture‑adjacent trending stories for digital audience. With five years in the newsroom, she strives to balance the speed and rigor of fast‑moving news cycles and longer, context‑rich explainers.
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