KOCHI: The Kochi unit of the Crime Branch (Organised Crime Wing) on Saturday arrested the self-proclaimed naturopath Jacob Vadakkanchery for sharing misleading information on rat fever five days after Thiruvananthapuram city police registered a case against him.In his social media post, Jacob had questioned the authenticity of the leptospirosis preventive medicine prescribed by the government.
Thiruvananthapuram city police registered a case against Jacob on Monday. The case was later handed over to the Crime Branch (Organised Crime Wing) after Health Minister K K Shailaja directed DGP Loknath Behera to initiate legal action against Jacob for sharing false information via social media platforms and creating confusion among people.
Jacob was arrested by a team led by CI T S Shiju from Nature Life Hospital, Champakkara in Kochi, on Saturday morning, said Crime Branch officers. Sleuths also recovered a computer, a hard disc and other devices from the hospital. He is now being interrogated at the Crime Branch office in Tripunithura. The police are also investigating whether Jacob had committed quackery.
In a recent video posted on his Facebook page, Jacob claimed doxycycline prescribed by the Health Department for the prevention and treatment of leptospirosis causes fatal allergic reaction. He also alleged the pharma companies were trying to exploit the leptospirosis scare to rake in profits by large-scale sale of their products. Earlier, he had also got into trouble for questioning the government’s allopathic treatment protocol for Nipah outbreak.
In his social media post, Jacob had questioned the authenticity of the leptospirosis preventive medicine prescribed by the government