A set of fake pictures which went viral on social media and messaging platforms on Thursday afternoon sent Kumram Bheem Asifabad district police, forest officials and mediapersons into a tizzy. T
he photos showed a badly injured tribal man and a dead sloth bear.
A brief story accompanying the post said the tribal man who went to forest to collect Verdi leaves was mauled by a sloth bear in Kerameri forest in the district. The bear was killed by some labourers who were digging for gravel in the vicinity, the story added.
On seeing the photos, forest officials concerned and top police officials in Asifabad division combed the area as the incident was curious in that those who saved the life of the victim would be guilty of killing a protected animal as well as illegally extracting gravel from reserve forest.
The search yielded no result. After about a couple of hours a police officer from Wankidi identified the post to be a fake one and two-year-old.
