Mumbai Police Arrests Two For Allegedly Spreading Fake News Against Journalist Rana Ayyub

Mumbai Police's cyber cell has arrested two persons for allegedly spreading fake news against journalist Rana Ayyub, an official said, on Sunday. The two accused, identified as Vidyanshi Trivedi and Ayush Srivastava, are both residents of Uttar Pradesh.

The accused were employed with a news portal, 'Scoop Beats', an India-based news organisation. They had published a video on the portal's Youtube channel with fake news about the award-winning journalist.

Fake News Spread

The video was aired on Youtube with fake news and objectionable comments against the author. In the news bulletin, the accused made several claims, including that she was aided by Pakistan and had been banned from Saudi Arabia. They even used an image of a doctored tweet saying she "hates India and Indians".

Targeted From Months

Ayyub, a columnist with the Washington Post, was on the radar of online trolls. As fake news started circulating against her, she received the end of malicious allegations and vicious threats, including rape threats, for nearly a month. Later, Ayyub registered a complaint with the cyber police station at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

An officer part of the investigation said, "We had issued notices to both the accused, asking them to present themselves for inquiries. They came to the police station on Saturday, and after inquiries established their offence, they were both placed under arrest. Inquiries have found that Ayush was the one who morphed the tweet in Ayyub's name, reported National Herald.

Thanks To Mumbai Police

The columnist took to Twitter on Saturday to appreciate the efforts of the Mumbai cyber police and expressed her gratitude for them. She informed that the video in question had been taken down by Scoop Beats's news portal, which has also issued an apology through social media. She also said that the police had arrested two more people in connection with the case for sending Ayyub and her family explicit death and rape threats.

Mumbai cyber crime today arrested the two journalists from Scoopbeats who made a video at the behest of their employers, spreading the most vicious fake news against me. This is a big step in the direction of justice. Thank you @CPMumbaiPolice, Joint CP and the other officers

— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) March 5, 2022

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