Mumbai: After Rahul Dravid's Indiranagar Ka Gunda ad went viral on social media, Mumbai Police and Surat City Traffic Police took to Twitter to share an important message on the importance of wearing masks during this surge in Covid-19 cases.

The video went viral on the same day the Indian Premier League (IPL) was launched. In the video, the former Indian cricket captain is seen in a never-seen-before avatar in an advertisement for a credit card payment app. The ad was part of the credit card payments app CRED’s campaign for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

As the video was posted, the advertisement garnered a lot of attention on social media with a wide range of reactions and memes. Taking a cue from netizens, the social media accounts of several police departments also joined the viral trend. They gave the "Indiranagar ka Gunda hoon main" dialogue, a quirky twist, along with an important message to the public.

In Gujarat, Surat City Traffic Police used an image from the ad and captioned it on Instagram: “Gundagardi sirf movies mein achi lagti hai, Sadko par nahi. Roads Indiranagar ki ho ya Surat ki, gundagardi is not welcome. (Hooliganism looks good only in movies, not on roads. Be it on roads of Indiranagar or Surat, hooliganism is not welcome).”

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A post shared by Surat City Traffic Police (@suratcitytrafficpolice)

In another instance, Maharashtra’s Nagpur Police used Dravid’s ad to highlight that unnecessary honking is not okay. “Be it in “Indiranagar” or anywhere. Keep your calm, avoid unnecessary honking,” Nagpur Police tweeted.

Be it in "indiranagar" or anywhere.
Keep your calm,
Avoid unnecessary honking.#NagpurPolice pic.twitter.com/CTcfEV6AL8
— Nagpur City Police (@NagpurPolice) April 10, 2021

And Mumbai Police underlined the importance of face masks to fight coronavirus amid the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the state. Using a line from the ad, where the cricketer was seen angrily challenging another driver caught in traffic, the cops used it to draw parallels to how a mask would react to the coronavirus.

“Mask, seeing the virus approaching you!” the police agency wrote, reminding all that “mask is must”.

Mask, seeing the the virus approaching you! #WallOfSafety #MaskUp #MaskIsMust pic.twitter.com/gVBbQ9XbGf
— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 10, 2021