Flaunting firearms on social media lands 5 in jail

LUCKNOW : Flaunting firearms or exhibiting muscle power on social media may land you in jail. Already, as many as five people have been arrested from different parts of the state capital and sent to jail for such crimes in past three weeks, said the Lucknow police. “The cyber wing of the Lucknow police is scanning social media profiles of people who have been posting photographs holding firearms in their hands,” said district police spokesman Anil Kumar Singh.

LUCKNOW : Flaunting firearms or exhibiting muscle power on social media may land you in jail.

Already, as many as five people have been arrested from different parts of the state capital and sent to jail for such crimes in past three weeks, said the Lucknow police.

“The cyber wing of the Lucknow police is scanning social media profiles of people who have been posting photographs holding firearms in their hands. The police teams are examining the pose and the caption on such photos on social networking sites and initiating action if the post is suggesting direct or indirect threat to someone,” said district police spokesman Anil Kumar Singh.

While some people have already been arrested and sent to jail, profiles of a few others are under scanner, he said.

Recently a video of a man beating up another man went viral on social media. The cyber wing was deployed to track the source of the video and the accused was identified as Shamim alias Guddu, who is bashing up one Meraj over a petty issue.

The video, made by Guddu’s aides, was posted on social media to humiliate the victim. It was a clear case of criminal intimidation. We traced the location and identity of the man who posted the video and arrested the accused on Friday night after registering an FIR against him at Gudamba police station,” said Singh.

Three more arrests were made from Thakurganj, Gudamba and Ashiana for flaunting firearms on social media platforms. He said one Azharudeen alias Azharu was arrested on Thursday for posting photographs holding illegal firearms in his hand. Similarly, one Sujit Kumar Rawat was arrested from Gudamba area on Tuesday for the same and an illegal weapon was seized from his possession, he added. Singh said one Shiv Shankar Yadav alias Bablu Yadav was also arrested from Ashiana for posting his photographs with his licensed weapons. He said one 315 bore rifle and its three cartridges as well as one 32 bore revolver and its six cartridges were seized from him. He said the police had recommended the district administration for cancellation of his firearms’ licenses.