NAGPUR: In a major breakthrough, three people have been arrested by city police cyber cell on Friday for allegedly creating the fake audio clip stating ’59 positive cases’ existing in Nagpur and later making it viral. This was possibly the first case in the region where cyber cops managed to reach the source of the forwarded message in the social media successfully.
The clip had triggered widespread panic across the nation. Police said the culprits, including a businessman owning clubs in city, had made the audio file on March 23 from north Nagpur and later forwarded to their friend to create a scare among the children in their family and also others in the city.
This case now comes with landmark detection by cyber cell which managed to crack the mystery by zeroing down upon three culprits, Jay Gupta (37), Amit Pardhi (38) and Divyanshu Mishra (33), who were placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday. City police had registered the case against unidentified persons at Sadar police station around a day ago after the clip went viral triggering fear and panic across India. The conversation in the clip was between Gupta and Pardhi.
The 4.52 minute clip had also mentioned about 200 more suspected were present in the city. It had also referred to one Dr Kamlesh stating he was on ventilator after being tested positive. The clip had also mentioned a name ‘Nitin’ which many felt was a highly placed politician from Vidarbha currently at the helm of affairs in the fight against Covid-19.
Mishra had forwarded the fake clip to wife who later to a friend before the fake clip had gone viral. After learning about the police have become active to nab the creators, Gupta had also deleted the clips and reset the programme in the mobile phone of Mishra’s wife.
Cyber cell team of Asst PIs Vishal Mane, Keshav Wagh and Ashwini Jagtap, under DCP Shweta Khedkar, Addl CP, crime, Nilesh Bharne, working under Joint CP Ravindra Kadam and CP BK Upadhyay, first managed to zero down on the woman whom Mishra’s wife had forwarded and later nabbed the rest.
Around 35 people were interrogated thoroughly by the cyber cell before managing to crack the case. Several people were called and rounded up by the cyber team working round the clock in the last couple of days.
