The Bangalore Cyber Police have arrested a 29-year-old youth hailing from Edava, near Varkala, on charges of misusing the SMS alert facility of ‘Mid Day’ newspaper and sending fake news through it.
The Cyber Police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Savitha arrested B.F. Feroze on Sunday and produced him in a court at Varkala.
Later, he was taken to Bangalore to be produced in a court there.
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The youth, who used to work for the newspaper, started using its SMS alert facility for sending fake news after he quit the job.
Using the password he had while serving in the newspaper, Feroze allegedly sent fake news like ‘15 killed in blast at Bangalore’ and another one on H1N1 influenza as SMS alerts.
On the basis of a complaint lodged by the newspaper in Bangalore, the cyber police started probe and traced the IP address to Feroze’s computer.
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Confiscated
The police confiscated the hard disc and the computer from the youth’s house. He had admitted to the crime, the police said.