Kerala Police leap into action after former DGP R Sreelekha's Facebook post on their inaction

The Museum Police in Thiruvananthapuram have taken action on a complaint filed by former DGP R Sreelekha regarding an online scam. The action was taken after Sreelekha posted the non-action by the Kerala Police despite her lodging an official complaint.

The former DGP had ordered a Bluetooth earphone online on April 6. She was however delivered an old headphone on April 14 by an Ekart representative. When she called up to point out the mistake, the Ekart delivery person is said to have arrogantly told her that she would not receive a refund even if she lodged a complaint with the police. Sreelekha then filed a complaint through the police website.

In her Facebook post, Sreelekha wrote that no action was taken by the police even after 14 days. Although the Museum Police claimed that they had not received any written complaint regarding the incident, the Ekart representative was found and a refund of Rs 1700 for the headphone was returned within hours of the post. Sreelekha later wrote a post praising the Kerala Police.

Meanwhile, in Amethi, the police have arrested a man under the Epidemic Act, accusing him of instilling fear amongst the public, when he tweeted requesting an oxygen cylinder for his 88-year-old relative.

Shashank Yadav, tagging Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, wrote, “Need oxygen cylinder, ASAP.”

On Tuesday, Union minister and Amethi MP Smriti Irani tweeted in response, "Called Shashank thrice… no response on the number shared by you in your tweet.” She is also said to have alerted the District Magistrate and requested the Amethi Police to find and help the person. According to Superintendent of Police Dinesh Singh, when they finally did find Shashank, he was sleeping. Singh said, “Shashank’s motive was to create sensation and fear.”

In fact, the Amethi Police tweeted, “Neither the patient had Covid-19 infection nor did he require oxygen. He died due to cardiac arrest at 8 pm Monday. Making such tweets are not only condemnable but also an offense.”

An FIR was lodged against Yadav under relevant sections of the Epidemic Act. He was brought to the station for questioning but was later let off.