AIB controversy: Now, Tanmay Bhatt, Gursimran Khamba accused of harassment; asked to step away from duties

Days after AIB comedian Utsav Chakraborty was accused of sending explicit images to a number of women on social media, another comedian from the group, both co-founders Tanmay Bhat and  Gursimran Khamba, has been accused, of mental harassment by an anonymous woman, who knew them on a personal level.

Following the allegations, AIB has put them on leave and relieved them of their duties until an investigation is done.

Statement pic.twitter.com/KR5tM2sYuX

— All India Bakchod (@AllIndiaBakchod) October 8, 2018

Admitting to hanging out with Khamba a few times in 2015, the woman later admitted that he developed feelings for her, which she did not reciprocate. This did not go down well with the comedian, who continued refusing to take no for an answer. "This was followed by him being angry and nasty and abusive," the woman alleged. Khamba has also been accused of making drunk calls, and emotionally blackmailing and abusing the woman for not reciprocating his advances.

On Friday, Stand-up comic group All India Bakchod (AIB) issued a statememt a day after they were called out for 'defending' comedian Utsav Chakraborty, who had admitted to sending sexually explicit images to women on social media. However, Chakraborty has denied the allegations that he had sent any images to minors.

The Twitter user, who made the allegations, started a thread condemning Utsav Chakraborty’s sexual misconduct with women, especially minor girls. He has been accused of asking minors to send ‘nudes’.

She then went on to share examples of how “Chakraborty had in fact sent sexually explicit messages to her and to many other women.”

The threat led to a number of women sharing their stories, prompting AIB to release a statement on Thursday. 

However, the group has also been called out for their statement by the user, who had in her thread said she had spoken to the founding members of the team, but to no avail. AIB then tweeted this, ""Also, a ton of rumours and allegations flying around suggesting Utsav is / was AIB’s Head Writer. Utsav was never our Head Writer. Also, Utsav has not been an employee at AIB since the end of 2016." 

Utsav, too, issued a statement, which claimed that the situation was more 'complicated' than what it appeared to be. He then went on to cite how his 'mental illness' had prompted him to behave the way he did.

On Friday, AIB admitted that one of its co-founders Tanmay Bhat had known of the incident involving Chakraborty, but chose to remain quiet. They then released a detailed statement.