Bengaluru: Cabbie held for spreading fake news on environmentalist's death

Bengaluru: An Ola cab driver was arrested by the city cyber crime police for spreading rumours stating that noted environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka was dead.

Police said the accused, Pradeep Gowda, had sent a morphed photograph of the dead woman with a caption stating she has passed away. After the arrest, Gowda, a resident of Byadarahalli, was produced before the magistrate and later released on bail.

According to police, the arrest was based on a complaint filed by Umesh Vanasiri, foster son of Thimmakka, last Saturday. The message went viral after it was posted on a Facebook page with a caption saying Thimmakka was no more.

Using photoshop, Thimmakka’s face was morphed on the photo of a dead woman. It went viral and was later released in various Whatsapp groups.

Police said they will soon arrest the person who had photoshopped the image.