Gujarat: RMO arrested for defaming UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre on social media

Ahmedabad: A Resident medical officer (RMO) associated with a leading UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre has been arrested by the Ahmedabad cyber crime cell for allegedly trying to malign the image of the health facility by sharing "fake and fabricated" posts on social media.

Based on a complaint given by the management of the U N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre (UNMICRC), the Cyber Crime Cell of the Ahmedabad police arrested Dr Kaushik Kumar.

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UNMICRC is an autonomous super-speciality hospital as well as a research institute in Ahmedabad that is funded and promoted by the state government.

The accused has been arrested by the Ahmedabad cyber crime cell from his residence in Bapunagar.

The Indian Express reports that "A complaint was given by the doctors at UN Mehta Hospital that an unidentified person has been making pages on various social media websites for the past six-eight months and putting up fake posts against the hospital," said Amit Vasava, deputy commissioner of police, Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell.

According to police, Kumar had allegedly created several fake pages on social media websites to post defamatory content against his hospital.

In January this year, the hospital management learnt that someone was spreading fake and malicious rumours about the institute and its doctors through a Facebook account of one "Dr Satish Patel", said a release by the cyber crime cell.

To malign the image of the hospital, the unidentified accused had also shared edited video clips of the events held in the hospital premises on his Facebook page and then shared the URL of those posts to some of the employees of the institute using a mobile number, the release said.

Upon getting the complaint, the cyber crime cell conducted an investigation and eventually arrested Dr Kaushik Barot, the RMO of the hospital.

To conceal his identity, 46-year-old Barot had used a SIM card issued in somebody else's name to share the contents on social media. He had also downloaded two mobile applications to change his voice and sound like a woman over the phone, the release said.

The probe revealed that Barot has been working in the hospital since 2004. He claimed that he had decided to malign the institute's image as he was being harassed for a long time by the hospital management, the release said.

He was booked and arrested under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), section 500 (defamation) and 66-C of the Information Technology (IT) Act. 

As per TOI reports that the RMO claimed that he decided to malign the image of the hospital as he was being harassed by the management and later he was released on bail.

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