Morphed video of child lifting in Facebook; Karimganj Police arrests youth from Panchgram

way2barak, Sept.17: Since the last few days, the social media users in Karimganj district of Assam has been witnessing a number of posts where incidents of suspected child kidnappers lifting children had become viral. Many such information (infact misinformation) were blindly shared by social media users.

It is in this connection, Karimganj Police arrested one youth from Pachgram for posting fake videos over Facebook with the caption ‘Child Lifters’. The youth was identified as Badrul Islam. ASP Gitartha Dev, Karimganj Police while interacting with the media said, “Such type of unconfirmed incidents should not be shared by anyone in social media. We have got a social monitoring team, which keeps a sharp observation in these incidents. Anybody sharing such false photos or videos in social media will be put behind the bars.”

The ASP further stated that the youth apprehended has accepted that he has downloaded videos from Facebook which he later posted in his profile. He also said, “From the last few days, a rumour mongering has been going on as regards child- kidnapping. On investigation, it was revealed that maximum of the videos do not belong to Karimganj district and were rather downloaded from Facebook. However, some miscreants edit the videos and post them in social media to mislead people. Such videos could lead to lynching of people and even communal outbreak.”

ASP Gitartha Dev further added that the youth nabbed from Panchgram uploaded the misleading video in his page to get famous. That particular fake video was viewed by huge number of netizens and also got shared by many. “The youth Badrul Islam who was nabbed himself confessed of editing videos downloaded from Facebook and posted in his page. It is not that the miscreant did it unknowingly. He did this crime intentionally to instigate the public so that a law and order situation takes place. We have filed a case in this connection against the miscreant.”

Earlier on 15 September, Karimganj Police, “Request all not to believe the rumours of suspected child kidnappers running loose. No complaint of kidnapping/attempted kidnapping by unknown miscreants have been reported in the recent past. Those spreading the fake news will be prosecuted. Think before you share!.”

Meanwhile, Assam Police in its social media handle on Monday stated, “Some rumours about child lifters have again begun doing the rounds in various parts, leading to a repeat of lynching incidents. Citizens are requested not to forward or share unverified rumours about child kidnappers. If you see someone promoting/sharing such kind of rumours, kindly inform us immediately. We remain committed to ensuring the safety of all our children & citizens.”

Also Read: Viral incidents of child kidnapping in social media is fake, asserts Karimganj Police