Karnataka’s cybercrime police have registered a first information report (FIR) and detained two people for questioning over the alleged circulation of videos targeting former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Police were tracing accounts suspected of sharing the material to establish its origin and identify those responsible.The investigation follows a complaint Siddaramaiah submitted to Bengaluru police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh, with details of social media accounts allegedly involved in circulating the content. “The CCB [Central Crime Branch of cybercrime police] began monitoring platforms and tracing internet protocol (IP) addresses. A court on Tuesday granted an interim injunction restraining 42 media organisations and digital platforms from publishing or circulating two videos allegedly linked to Siddaramaiah.The court directed the platforms to block access to the material, including clips, screenshots, transcripts and edited versions.
The two suspects are being questioned at an undisclosed location,” said an officer briefed on the investigation. It said Siddaramaiah had disputed the authenticity and credibility of the videos, the intention behind their circulation and the propriety of publishing them without verification.
Karnataka minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the former chief minister’s son, dismissed the footage as fake and alleged a conspiracy to damage his father’s reputation. He denied any connection with the video and alleged that some people were using it to spread defamatory information for political reasons.
He said a complaint had been filed against those circulating the material.“Someone appears to have been instigated to carry out a sting operation,” Yathindra said, alleging that the footage was being used to spread misinformation. He said the family was pursuing legal action against those sharing the material. In a statement on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah said he had approached the court after noticing a campaign on social media linking him to the purported sting operation.
Union minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the controversy. He alleged that chief minister D K Shivakumar used a sting operation to force Siddaramaiah to step down and facilitate a change in leadership in the Karnataka Congress.
