Seven TikTok users arrested for violating lockdown rules

The Mumbai Police, coming down heavily on TikTok users who are trying to make videos by violating social distancing norms or mocking the police, arrested seven people

The Mumbai Police, coming down heavily on TikTok users who are trying to make videos by violating social distancing norms or mocking the police, arrested seven people in two days.

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On Monday, the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) police arrested five youth – Avinash Varma, Jalis Siddiqui, Salman Shaikh, Sajid Shaikh and Nafiz Ansari – for making TikTok videos on empty roads, bylanes and society premises.

Investigations revealed that they made around 40 videos since the lockdown, in most of which they performed movie dialogues or monologues on roads, by taking advantage of the lockdown and violating social distancing norms.

Anand Mulay, senior inspector of BKC police station, said,” We received a complaint from a person claiming that a group was violating social distancing norms and making TikTok videos in the BKC area. We registered an FIR [first information report] first with the help of local informers and then technical team tracked them and arrested them from Sant Gyaneshwar Nagar and Bharat Nagar areas.”

All the seven accused have booked under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Epidemic Diseases Act.

Last month, the Shivaji Nagar police had booked a biker and a pillion rider for stepping out for a joyride during the lockdown after their video went viral. Twenty-year-old Sarfaraz Ali was riding the bike, while Mohamedali Shaikh, 22, who was seated pillion, was recording their video on Tilak Nagar flyover, as the duo went rode at more than 100km/hour in the morning.