Bengaluru, Oct 14 — The Central Crime Branch (CCB) Cyber Crime Police have registered an FIR and detained two persons based on a complaint by former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress Working Committee Member Siddaramaiah, who alleged that fake and malicious videos targeting him were being circulated on social media to damage his reputation, police said on Wednesday.
The development assumes significance amid the sting operation row, which has sent ripples through Karnataka politics. Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has hinted at the possibility of the Chief Minister targeting Siddaramaiah due to political rivalry.
Acting on the directions of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, the police have intensified the investigation and detained two suspects for questioning at an undisclosed location.
Siddaramaiah had personally submitted a complaint to the police commissioner, alleging that false information was being circulated as part of a political conspiracy aimed at tarnishing his image. He had also provided details of specific social media accounts allegedly involved in spreading the misleading content.
Following the registration of the complaint, the CCB Cyber Crime Police began monitoring social media platforms and tracing the IP addresses of key accounts that circulated the videos to identify the owners of the devices used.
The police have detained two persons suspected of being involved in the case and are questioning them to establish who was behind the alleged act and where the videos originated.
Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he had approached a Bengaluru civil and sessions court seeking an order restraining newspapers, television channels and social media platforms from publishing or broadcasting a sting-operation video circulating online that allegedly links his name to the controversy.
In a statement, Siddaramaiah said he had noticed a campaign on various social media platforms over the past few days linking his name to the video. He described it as an apparent attempt to malign his reputation for political reasons.
Claiming that he had no connection to the sting operation video, Siddaramaiah alleged that some miscreants were using it to spread defamatory information against him. He said he had approached the court as a precautionary measure, seeking to prevent the publication or broadcast of the video containing references to his name.
“My conscience knows that I am completely innocent in this matter,” he said, expressing confidence that the people of Karnataka, who were familiar with his five-decade-long political career, would also understand the truth.
Siddaramaiah said that in the era of modern technology, it had become easy to portray falsehoods as the truth. He clarified that he had approached the court as a precaution and that he had no other reason to fear, expressing confidence that the truth would ultimately prevail.
Stating that he was a firm supporter of freedom of expression, Siddaramaiah said he had never obstructed the media’s freedom of expression during his political career. However, he regretted that he had been compelled to seek a court injunction against publication and broadcast because some media organisations were allegedly misusing that freedom.