BENGALURU: Acting swiftly on a false video posted on a social media platform, purportedly of a dedicated Covid-19 ward in Victoria Hospital, Central Crime Branch (CCB) police nabbed a man within a few hours after he posted the video.
The accused, Sameer Ullah (46), is a resident of Tilaknagar and a timber merchant. On Saturday night, he posted a video from his Facebook profile, Saif Adds. The video is of scores of people wearing masks, gathered in a small space in a hospital, and the person filming it expresses concern that it is a threat to medical staff and patients.
Saif Adds claimed it was a scene from Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. Within minutes, the video went viral. Police, who took up the matter seriously, registered a case with the Cyber Crime police station, under provisions of the Information Technology Act, National Disaster Management Act and IPC.
Sleuths zeroed in on the profile of Saif Adds. “Through the IP address and other details, he was traced to Tilaknagar and arrested on Sunday afternoon,” an official said.
“The accused claimed that he had got the video on WhatsApp, and the sender had said it was Victoria Hospital, and he posted it without verifying. We are trying to find out who spread this false information,” the official added.
JCP (Crime) Sandeep Patil said, “The video which went viral about Victoria Hospital is fake, and has no link to Victoria Hospital or any hospital in Karnataka. People should be careful not to share or forward any false video or message about the pandemic.” The profile of the accused revealed that he had links with some political leaders, and had shared photos of himself with a former minister and police officer.