The city police have launched a probe to trace the chain of fake messages on social media about ‘child lifters’ in Bengaluru and attempting to ascertain the source. The cybercrime police are also lending their expertise to the investigation.
This comes after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy ordered the police to take immediate measures to check the spread of rumours. “There have been instances where people have attacked and lynched strangers, mistaking them to be child kidnappers. The Police Department must take immediate measures to check rumours and create awareness among people,” Mr. Kumaraswamy is reported to have told the police.
The city police have registered a suo motu case at the Cottonpet Police Station against unknown individuals for spreading false rumours. “We have begun to physically trace the chain of messages in the Chamarajpet case, where an innocent man was lynched. We will also seek technical expertise to widen our probe,” said Ravi B. Channannavar, DCP (West).
Mr. Channannavar said the police had now accessed new footage showing the entire lynching episode in Chamarajpet, which he said will help them track more members of the crowd. “The man was attacked unprovoked,” he said. The police have arrested 14 of the 40 people in the crowd.
Meanwhile, Kolar reported an incident where a minor boy from the town has been accused of allegedly forwarding a picture of his neighbour, a 16-year-old boy, on WhatsApp saying he was a chain snatcher. A person from Mulbagal, who received the message, alerted the older boy’s family.
His parents did not let him step out of the house for a couple of days fearing that he would be attacked. They approached the police and lodged a complaint against the minor. Though the family of the boy maintained that the accused is their neighbour, The police said it is yet to be ascertained who had uploaded the picture.
