Cyberabad police book retired Army Major for fake news

A retired Army Major has been booked by Cyberabad police for posting fake news on social media.

Cyber crime wing of Cyberabad police Commissionerate registered a case against Major Neelam Singh (Retd.) for posting a morphed news clipping on Twitter. Police said that the post is likely to promote enmity between different religions and is prejudicial to the maintenance of communal harmony.

According to police, the fake news was posted from the Twitter account "theskindoctor13".  He created a fake news article by editing an old article in 'Deccan Chronicle' as 'Cyberabad police bans the sale of oranges in the city' and also attached a morphed photo of Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar and other senior police officers.

"In the news/article he mentioned that to boost secularism to the hilt, Cyberabad police banned the display, sale and consumption of oranges in the city as saffron color of oranges is hurting the sentiments of the Muslims," said Cyberabad Police, one of the three police commissionerates covering Greater Hyderabad.

The police appealed to the citizens not to post such fake and objectionable posts, as it may mislead the citizens and also disrupt the communal harmony.

Reacting to the police action, 'theskindoctor13' tweeted on Tuesday that the police filed a case against him for a satire. "A satire they perceived as fake news despite a disclaimer. How absurd it is," he tweeted and sought help from 'any lawyer friend' among his followers.