BENGALURU: Panic gripped the residents of one of Bellandur’s upmarket apartments after a WhatsApp message began doing the rounds, that police officials had visited their apartment to inform them that a terrorist was holed up in one of the flats. The security agency in charge had been instructed to conduct stringent checks and take details of bachelors in the complex, the message added.
“Dear All, A police officer from Bellandur police station came to the apartment (name withheld on request) today morning to inform the residents on a terrorist being holed up. The residents/security were instructed by the police to carry out stringent scanning/monitoring process before allowing tenants/visitors occupation especially bachelors into our complex.....Request everyone’s co-operation in maintaining safety & security here,” read the message.
“Reading this message early in the morning, we panicked,” said Roopa K, a resident of the apartment. She said the message started circulating in the apartment group first, and then it was all over social media.
“Initially, we didn’t believe it, but then it also had the number of our beat policeman, who is in touch with us regularly. We started calling him and also checking with neighbours if they had seen any officer,” she explained.
Incidentally, a regular police beat meet was held in the apartment complex recently. There was a second part to the message. “....terrorists were spotted in Bangalore and they plan to do something worse in next 15 days, primarily in IT companies in Whitefield and Bellandur .... so as residents please be alert and anyone notice these guys and any info please contact the police immediately ...(sic)”, it read. The message also contained pictures of a few people, who were called ‘terrorists’.
Meanwhile, a bachelor in the apartment said, on condition of anonymity, “It felt like everyone was looking at me and my roommates with suspicion. Especially due to our religion. It was a very uncomfortable scenario. We were glad when there was a clarification from the police about the message.” “It was later known that some miscreants turned the regular beat policing event into a terror alert and created panic,” Sandhya, a resident, said.Police later instructed all residents and association members to immediately delete the message.
IT’S A FAKE, TWEETS TOP COP
Police commissioner T Suneel Kumar, too, put out a tweet saying it was a fake message and the public should ignore it. He told TNIE that though police had not received a complaint in this regard, they would trace the origin of the message, and if anyone lodges a complaint about their photograph being used, an inquiry would be conducted. “There is no such information or search happening in any apartment,” he added.