80 per cent of the social media accounts that discredited the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government post Sushant Singh Rajput's (SSR) death case were fake accounts created with the help of automation tools, reported the Mumbai Police on Tuesday.
As per the report submitted by cyber and forensic experts, 80 per cent of the Twitter accounts that were trending negative posts on SSR’s death against the Mumbai Police (including its chief) and the state government and it's leaders were fake accounts. These accounts were created with the help of automation softwares called bots. The number of accounts that were suspicious in nature were over 1.5 lakh and the related bots used for them were over 1000, said the police.
The report also states that most of these fake accounts were operated from foreign countries such as China, Panama, Hong Kong and Nepal using proxy servers to remain anonymous.
Following the investigation launched by the Mumbai Police, many accounts are trying to disappear and many are trying to delete negative posts and comments to evade the investigation process, said the Mumbai Police. "Our probe indicates that the negative sentiments that were trending against the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police were fake and deliberately staged through bots," said a senior Mumbai Police officer.
Details of these fake accounts have been given to Twitter to confirm and delete them.
Actress Raveena Tondon's fake Twitter account was also created using bots, said the police on Monday. Many defamatory posts were made to Mumbai Police and its chief from the account.
Following the death of SSR in Mumbai on June 14, the Mumbai Police was targeted on various social media platforms for mishandling the case. Many hashtags discrediting the police, state government and state leaders, including the chief minister, kept floating on social media platforms over several months.
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