He wanted his car to go viral. It did but, in the process, he found an audience he did not set out looking: The police.

A Gwalior man’s white Swift, covered bumper-to-bumper with around 3,400 lipstick kiss marks, clocked lakhs of views on Instagram before the viral stunt landed its owner at a traffic police station with a Rs 5,500 challan and a rather less glamorous job: Wiping every kiss off the car.

According to police, a video showing the Swift almost entirely covered in lipstick marks had surfaced on social media and showed the vehicle allegedly being driven at speed on a city road. The unusual sight prompted traffic police to trace the car and its owner.

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Traffic Police Station in-charge Abhishek Raghuvanshi said the video had surfaced around two days before the police action. “A video went viral on social media showing a car covered with lipstick marks moving in the City Centre area,” he said. Police examined details from the video and eventually traced the vehicle to the Thatipur area.

The car was subsequently brought to the traffic police station and its owner, Aditya Sikarwar, was called for questioning. Police imposed a fine of around Rs 5,500 under provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. The Act, among other provisions on registration and mandatory safety measures, prescribes rules for alterations to motor vehicles.

Chasing speed, and viral fame

Sikarwar said the unusual decoration was part of an attempt to create a viral social-media video. He said a female friend had come up with the idea after seeing a similar trend online and covered the car with around 3,400 lipstick marks.

“A female friend of mine made it. I had parked the car and stepped away, and she created the marks. I had posted the video on Instagram,” Sikarwar said.

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He said the exercise took around three-and-a-half hours and cost approximately Rs 800-900 in terms of the cost of lipstick. “There was a trend like this going around, so she made the video to make it go viral,” he said.

Police said Sikarwar is an Instagram content creator and that the stunt appeared to have been aimed at increasing the reach of his social-media content and gaining followers. His account has since been deactivated.

After the police action, Sikarwar paid the Rs 5,500 challan and cleaned the lipstick marks from the vehicle at the traffic police station. He also assured officials that he would follow traffic rules and would not repeat the stunt.

“My car was checked by the police following which they issued the challan. I had to then wash my car. It was my mistake and from here on, I will follow traffic rules. I will not make such a mistake again,” he said.