MANGALORE: National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) is planning to lodge a complaint under cyber crimes at Suratkal police station following false reports on social media about the death of a student.
M Tech student Sreejith had died nearly a month ago and though the doctor who treated him had confirmed the cause of death as lung infection, miscreants uploaded fake news items claiming that he was a victim of Ebola virus. This caused a scare that the deadly disease had entered Karnataka.
NITK was flooded with phone calls from health officials, media and the general public.
NITK officials faced an uphill task in giving them the right version. Dean of student welfare at NITK, Uday Kumar Yaragatti, is planning to lodge a complaint in this regard after conferring with the management.
Yaragatti told Express: “Sreejith, who was a state-level badminton player, died due to lung infection on July 21. Even the doctor who treated him confirmed this as the disease was not detected in the early stage. Miscreants are tarnishing our image claiming that the first victim of Ebola is from NITK.”
When contacted, Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravi Kumar, said: “As the miscreants used social media to spread the fake news, I have asked NITK officials to lodge a complaint under Cyber Crime Act”.