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Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate Police on Tuesday detained a youth on charges of circulating fake news on Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s health by misusing the logo of OTV on social media. The youth has been identified as Pratap Sahu from Patnagarh in Bolangir district.
Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahoo informed that the youth was detained based on the written complaint filed by OTV at Infocity Police Station in Bhubaneswar on August 25 in connection with the circulation of fake news on a particular WhatsApp group.
“A complaint was filed by OTV that the logo of the channel was misused and an objectionable post was circulated on WhatsApp. The channel had also provided a screenshot of the item that was shared on social media,” said Sahoo.
Sahoo further stated that the accused is now being interrogated to ascertain whether he had actually created such screenshots on his own or got it from somewhere else. “A complaint was filed by OTV that the logo of the channel was misused and an objectionable post was circulated on WhatsApp. The channel had also provided a screenshot of the item that was being circulated on social media,” said Sahoo.
Sahoo further stated that the accused is now being interrogated to ascertain whether he had actually created such screenshot on his own or got it from somewhere else.
It is pertinent to mention here that some ‘vested interest groups’ deliberately set up to defame and tarnish the image of OTV, the No.1 24/7 Odia News Channel of Odisha, misused the channel’s logo and shared such fake news on various social media platforms.
“OTV is being used and targeted as it has a reputation and is the No 1 channel in the State,” said senior journalist Rabi Das.
Senior journalist, Rajaram Satpathy said, “As OTV is a popular channel, it’s a well planned conspiracy to tarnish the image of the channel by misusing its logo.”
Being a responsible channel, OTV had earlier appealed viewers and others not to believe in such fake news and share any such items on social media. Despite the appeal, the miscreants and groups continued to share the fake post on social media.
Former DGP Sanjiv Marik stated that such kind of attempt to tarnish the image of a person or institution is liable for defamation suit under the provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
“A case under IPC section 467, 468 and 471 can be registered along with the 66 (3) of the IT Act against the person for identity theft and misuse of logo. Such crime can attract a jail term ranging from 3 to 10 years,” said senior advocate, Dharnidhar Nayak.
