Hyderabad: Video clippings of criminals caught in the act of an offence uploaded by the local media channels have become a tool of learning for criminals to plan out their modus operandi. Mr S. Harinath, ACP, Cyber Crimes, Rachakonda said, “The perpetrators who are planning to commit an offence take such videos as ‘Beginner’s guide’, and follow the modus operandi of the other criminals.”
On June 7, two notorious offenders, K. Sabashiva Rao, 42, and V. Tirupathi Rao, 27, who were arrested by the KPHB police had taken lessons from YouTube on chain snatching. The duo confessed that they watched video clips on YouTube and snatched a chain from a 58-year-old woman walking on the street.
In another incident on June 4, Mardana Ramesh, 26, an electrician, built country-made fire arms after watching videos on the YouTube. The Sangareddy police said that he was testing the gun he made by shooting at a wall, when the locals noticed him and alerted the cops. Ramesh said that he spent most of his time browsing the video platform on YouTube and during one such browsing he noticed a tutorial of making a gun.
“We do not upload these videos and it is the media channels that have clippings which they upload on their private channel,” said K.R. Naga Raju, DCP, crime of Rachakonda.
By using just a photocopier U. Raju Prasad, 26, a college dropout managed to make fake currencies of Rs 2,000 denomination at Patancheru in February 2017. He also like the others learnt the nuances of making the Rs 2,000 note by watching videos uploaded on YouTube. Raju got information from the video clippings uploaded by the regional channels on their site. He photocopied the original currency on white paper and cut it well to give a smooth finish, making it look real.
A 15-year-old boy lost his life in March 2016, after three criminals kidnapped him for money but he died in their custody due to suffocation. Sheshu Kumar alias Sairam, 20 from Kutakur village in East Godavari, P. Ravi, 21 from Jadupalli in Srikakulam and N. Mohan (23) of Ratta Kanna village in Srikakulam, all aspiring actors, watched ‘Oka Romantic Crime Katha,’ a Telugu movie on YouTube and hatched a plan to kidnap the son of a businessman to support their lifestyle.
Jananki Sharmila, DCP, Crime of Cyberabad said “Since internet is a free space, it is very difficult to track how, when, and for what purpose people are using any video, Not just YouTube but even Facebook updates and Google maps are used by criminals to track posh localities and positions of individuals in real time, and then plan to commit robbery or house theft based on the information.”
"We have always tried to control any illegal practice perpetuated by any platform, including YouTube videos, and we will try to control this as well." added Ms. Sharmila.
