Man held for ‘misleading’ social media post on HNSS canal

The Kuppam police on Saturday night arrested a man for allegedly putting a misleading social media post on the Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) canal project. Acting on a complaint from the HNSS officials, the Kuppam police cracked down on the false claim, which went viral, creating confusion in the agrarian belt. The accused was identified as Nagi Reddy of Sri Sathya Sai district.

Kuppam Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Parthasarathy said that the accused had circulated fabricated information, claiming irregularities and disruption in the HNSS canal works, and halting of the Krishna waterflow, which caused concern among the farmers and residents of the Kuppam and Palamaner Assembly constituencies. The cybercrime police tracked the origin of the post and zeroed in on the accused.

The police officer said following the verification of his mobile, it was found that apart from posting fabricated posts on social media, the accused had also resorted to morphing the images of popular political leaders and used them to create fake news and social media attacks. “We have booked him under the BNS and IT Acts,” the DSP said, adding that further investigation was on to verify whether there was any larger conspiracy.

The DSP said that such misleading posts would create unrest among the political and agrarian sections in the Rayalaseema region, and the perpetrators should desist from such activity.