Hyderabad: 3 held for floating rumours

Hyderabad: Hyderabad cyber crime police registered a suo motu case on Telangana Yuva Synyam for floating rumours about the kidnapping in the state and detained three persons on Thursday for creating the fake message.

A cyber crime official said police had registered a suo motu case as floating of rumours was likely to induce the general public to attack newcomers to their area, as had happened in several cases last year.

The Telangana Yuva Synyam social media post  claimed that the number of missing complaints had been increasing and that 82 people had gone missing in the state within 24 hours on Saturday. They had also cautioned people to stay alert.

The three persons who were detained by the police were identified as  Venkat Gurijala and associates Kranthi Kiran Naidu and Balraju. They were arrested for giving rise to rumours about kidnapping and  creating panic in the general public.

Cyber crime inspector Ch Gangadhar said, “They changed a news report and posted the matter on their social media account which created panic among the people.”

The cyber crime police registered a case under under Section 505 (1) (b) IPC which reads: intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against public tranquility.

During the course of investigation, the three suspects were taken into custody to prevent further spread of rumours.

The police appealed to general public not believe rumours and delete any social media forwards that they received.

Forwarding of fake posts and rumours is liable for punishment under the law. Social media users should not forward posts which will cause panic and alarm in the general public, the police said.

On Wednesday, the police top brass including DGP M. Mahendar Reddy addressed the media to dismiss the rumours regarding kidnapping.