A team of cops from the city recently nabbed a man allegedly involved in a smear campaign against the Aamir Khan’s issued-based show Satyamev Jayate.
The police displayed excellent acting skills as they zeroed in on the 32-year-old suspect from Udaipur. After learning that a man involved in a similar hate campaign had been arrested from Karnataka, the suspect had changed his address. Posing as his friends, the cops tracked down the location of the suspect.
Once the police got the internet protocol address of the computer that was used allegedly by the suspect to post derogatory information about the funds, generated through SMSes sent on the number given on the show, on a website www.speakingtree.com, a police team was sent to Udaipur to trace the suspect.
"On reaching suspect's Udaipur address, we learnt that he had sold his house for Rs 1.25 crore. We made inquiries and found that his grandfather had just passed away. Since we didn't have his new address, we told one of his old neighbours that we were his friends and wanted to attend the condolence meeting. The locals helped us gain entry to his house," said an officer from the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) and who was part of the team that apprehended the suspect.
The officer added that once the suspect arrived at the meeting, the policemen identified themselves and caught him. "He told us that when he learnt about the arrest of the Karnataka-based accused, he shifted his base thinking that he would help him evade arrest," the officer said.
In March, Aamir Khan had met Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sadanand Date and briefed him about "false and malicious messages" being circulated on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp and said that they were damaging his image and the reputation of his show. Date had then asked the CCIC to look into the matter. Investigation revealed that there were multiple smear campaigns against Satyamev Jayate.
"In first instance, a malicious blog was written, giving negative publicity to the show. In that case, we traced the suspect Ajit Vadakayil, 58, to Karnataka. Vadakayil, a retired merchant navy captain, admitted to have written the alleged post in 2010-11. He also claimed that he had done some research on the issue before posting it on social media. However, he later realised that his research was wrong and regretted his action. Vadakayil was arrested in April and a charge sheet was filed against him," the officer said.
The police displayed excellent acting skills as they zeroed in on the 32-year-old suspect from Udaipur. After learning that a man involved in a similar hate campaign had been arrested from Karnataka, the suspect had changed his address. Posing as his friends, the cops tracked down the location of the suspect.
Once the police got the internet protocol address of the computer that was used allegedly by the suspect to post derogatory information about the funds, generated through SMSes sent on the number given on the show, on a website www.speakingtree.com, a police team was sent to Udaipur to trace the suspect.
"On reaching suspect's Udaipur address, we learnt that he had sold his house for Rs 1.25 crore. We made inquiries and found that his grandfather had just passed away. Since we didn't have his new address, we told one of his old neighbours that we were his friends and wanted to attend the condolence meeting. The locals helped us gain entry to his house," said an officer from the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) and who was part of the team that apprehended the suspect.
The officer added that once the suspect arrived at the meeting, the policemen identified themselves and caught him. "He told us that when he learnt about the arrest of the Karnataka-based accused, he shifted his base thinking that he would help him evade arrest," the officer said.
In March, Aamir Khan had met Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sadanand Date and briefed him about "false and malicious messages" being circulated on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp and said that they were damaging his image and the reputation of his show. Date had then asked the CCIC to look into the matter. Investigation revealed that there were multiple smear campaigns against Satyamev Jayate.
"In first instance, a malicious blog was written, giving negative publicity to the show. In that case, we traced the suspect Ajit Vadakayil, 58, to Karnataka. Vadakayil, a retired merchant navy captain, admitted to have written the alleged post in 2010-11. He also claimed that he had done some research on the issue before posting it on social media. However, he later realised that his research was wrong and regretted his action. Vadakayil was arrested in April and a charge sheet was filed against him," the officer said.
