Sahakarnagar police nab two youths in connection with threatening social media videos

PUNE The Sahakarnagar police on Sunday, took action against hooligans, after videos of youths from Dhankawadi and Balajinagar areas, openly showing sharp weapons and threatening local residents went viral on the social media

PUNE The Sahakarnagar police on Sunday, took action against hooligans, after videos of youths from Dhankawadi and Balajinagar areas, openly showing sharp weapons and threatening local residents went viral on the social media.

The Sahakarnagar police on Sunday, took action against hooligans, after videos of youths from Dhankawadi and Balajinagar areas, openly showing sharp weapons and threatening local residents went viral on the social media. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

This sparked outrage among citizens. The police have detained two men and a search to arrest others was in progress. According to the police , over a dozen videos of goons challenging law and order were circulated on social media and were widely shared by the area residents.

In one of the videos , a group of armed men are seen threatening a vegetable vendor when he requested for money after they bought vegetables from him. The video shows that the victim was on his knees seeking forgiveness from the goons who were armed with sharp weapons.

Sagar Patil, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Zone II said, “Two youths have been detained in connection with the case and an FIR has been lodged at Sahakarnagar police station. Some videos are new while some are old. In the videos, the youths are armed with sharp weapons like choppers and other knives like machetes.They are seen walking on the roads and threatening the residents.”

“We are verifying these videos and a process of identifying the men is going on. We have appealed to the local residents to lodge their complaints with the police, if they have been intimidated by the men seen in these videos . Stern action like, externment or invoking MPDA Act will be taken against them,” said DCP Patil.

Meanwhile, the cyber crime department has been instructed to keep a close tab on goons uploading threatening videos to establish their supremacy in the area and keep the citizens under fear. There have been many incidents in the past where social media videos of glorification of goons have gone viral on the internet, crime branch officials said.