New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Police have arrested four individuals for uploading a misleading video on social media, falsely claiming that a child was kidnapped in broad daylight at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. The accused, identified as Suraj, Pankaj, Abhishek and Sakir, have been booked under Section 59 of The Metro Railways (Operation & Maintenance) Act, 2002, the officials informed on Saturday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Metro Hareshwar V. Swami stated that on March 25, 2025, a video claiming a child had been kidnapped at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station circulated on social media and created panic among the people. Immediate action was initiated and a special police unit was sent to probe into the issue. Upon comprehensive scanning of CCTV footage and cross-verification of reports, the police reported no such incident took place. Rather, the video was found to be a prank organised by four people looking for social media attention. In the course of the investigation, the authorities tracked down the Instagram account that had posted the video. The account manager confessed that on 19 March 2025 at about 3:30 PM, he, his brother Pankaj and two of his friends, Abhishek and Sakir, had made the mock kidnapping at Platform No. 4 of Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. The kid shown kidnapped in the clip was later revealed to be the nephew of the accused. The uploader admitted that the video was only made to get views and had been removed from his Instagram account afterwards. Deploring the action, DCP Metro mentioned, “Such deceptive videos not only generate unnecessary panic among the public but also disturb the safety and comfort of metro commuters. Strict action will be taken against such individuals.” The inquiry was led by ACP North Metro Dhirendra Nath Sharma, with police officers of PS Rajiv Chowk Metro sifting through CCTV footage.