Another hit to Telegram came from India. After Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was detained in Paris on Saturday, Indian authorities launched an investigation into Telegram that could lead to a total ban on the application.

Within the scope of the investigation carried out by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre within the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Telegram is being examined on the grounds that it is used for activities such as blackmail and gambling. Depending on the findings, it is stated that the application may be banned in the country.

Durov was detained by French police as he arrived at Le Bourget airport near Paris from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on his private jet. The reason for Durov’s detention was stated as not taking adequate measures to combat criminal activities in the application. The detention period of Telegram CEO was extended to 96 hours today. Accordingly, Durov will be detained until August 28.

Durov founded VKontakte, a Facebook-like platform in Russia in 2007, and was known as ‘Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg’ in his country. While VK has become Russia’s largest social media platform, state pressure on the platform has increased day by day. In 2014, the Russian government demanded the closure of opposition groups on VK. Durov, who opposed this demand, sold his shares in VK and left Russia.

Durov also launched Telegram in 2013. The messaging platform has rapidly gained popularity and has reached approximately 1 billion users as of today. Durov has citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates.