The Central Crime Station wing of the Hyderabad police today arrested a chartered accountant for spreading a fake Government Order (GO) which said that the state government had once again imposed a lockdown in Telangana.
Speaking to the media on the matter, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar said that the accused, 48-year-old S Sanjeev Kumar, had forged the old GO issued by the state government last year to impose the lockdown in order to create a new fake one four days ago as part of an April Fool’s Day prank.
"S Sanjeev Kumar, a native of Andhra Pradesh's Nellore, is working as a CA in Banjara Hills. He had been circulating a fake GO as a prank. We have seized a a laptop and an iPhone used by the accused to commit the offence," Kumar said.
The CP then revealed that the accused had circulated the GO on a WhatsApp group with 40 members in order to mislead his friends as part of his prank.
"The group had 40 members who shared the forged GO on various social media platforms including on Twitter and Facebook. The document went viral and caused widespread panic among the residents of the capital. Following this, a case was booked by the Hyderabad Cybercrime police. The message was then traced to Kumar. He has been arrested," he said.
"I urge the residents of Hyderabad not to believe in such fake GOs. I would also request the admins of various Whatsapp groups to share such GOs only after ascertaining their veracity in order to prevent the circulation of fake news," Kumar added.
Though Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Telangana, the state government has clearly stated that it does not currently plan to implement a
fresh lockdown in the state.