False hospital video goes viral, one arrested in Karnataka

Team Udayavani, Jul 19, 2020, 7:36 PM IST

Bengaluru: A viral video claiming to show crowded condition of a hospital treating COVID-19 patients in the city was found to be false with police on Sunday arresting a person for allegedly circulating it on social media.

Police said such videos have the potential to create panic and asked people to refrain from spreading them.

The arrest was made within hours of the police announcing registration of a case in connection with the video that showed a crowd of people wearing masks at an “outpatient ward” of a hospital, falsely identified as Victoria Hospital, a major dedicated COVID facility here. The video went viral on social media.

“City Crime Branch swiftly identified and arrested this person who has been circulating false videos of panic in Victoria Hospital, Bangalore. Kudos to all doctors and medical professionals who are doing their best. FALSE NEWS BUSTED,” Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao tweeted.

Earlier in the day, police said they have registered a case in this regard.

“#Covid False video about conditions of hospitals in Blore circulated on social media. Case registered in Cybercrime PS. While Govt, society at large fighting the pandemic, some r creating/forwarding messages/videos which has (sic) potential to create panic in society. REFRAIN FROM IT,” Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Sandeep Patil tweeted.

The video showed scores of people wearing masks gathered in a small space allegedly at an Out-Patient Department in a hospital, and a person filming it, claiming to be a doctor, expressing concern that it was a threat to all medical staff and also the patients.

Official sources said the video was reportedly from a hospital in one of the northern states.