JAGATSINGHPUR: Portrayal of an abandoned building as a ‘haunted house’ in Instagram reels triggered a clash between local residents and a group of three video bloggers (vloggers), leaving two injured in Sanpur Majurai village under Jagatsinghpur police limits on Thursday.
A case has been registered with the police by owner of the house and investigation is underway.
Sources said, several vloggers have been reportedly shooting videos of the abandoned building over the past week, and posting it on social media platforms by portraying it as a haunted house. Many vloggers, reportedly speaking in Hindi and Tamil, had been visiting the location at night to film videos, some of which later went viral, triggering panic among local residents as well as commuters travelling along the Jagatsinghpur-Jaipur road.
Villagers repeatedly refuted the claims, asserting that no paranormal incidents had ever been reported at the site. The building, which was lying unused for years, had reportedly been rented about a year ago by a businessman for storing construction materials such as cement and iron rods.
Locals said, one Duryodhan Moharana and six members of his family were murdered in the same building in 1999, a case that has remained unsolved. However, villagers said that no rumour of paranormal activity was reported from the house in the past around 27 years.
Meanwhile, three vloggers from Samang under Jagatsinghpur police station limits reportedly broke into the premises on Thursday and were filming a video when several villagers, led by Deepak Das, objected to it. The situation escalated and a clash broke out between the villagers and the vloggers.
During the clash, Das sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the district headquarters hospital in Jagatsinghpur. Another injured person, believed to be one of the vloggers, has not yet been identified. Meanwhile, the other vloggers reportedly fled the scene.
Following the incident, the building’s current owner and Duryodhan’s brother Santan Moharana, lodged an FIR with Jagatsinghpur police station, seeking action against those responsible for circulating misleading videos that caused public panic. Police said that a case has been registered and further investigation is on.