Fake tiger video: Man arrested in Malappuram

Malappuram: A 36-year-old man was arrested in Malappuram on Thursday for allegedly circulating an old video of a tiger and falsely claiming it was footage of the big cat recently spotted in a village estate.

Jerin Abraham, a resident of Manikanamparambil, Karuvarakundu, was arrested by Karuvarakundu police based on a complaint filed by the Forest Department.

According to police, Jerin shared the video on his WhatsApp status, falsely claiming he spotted a tiger near a Karuvarakundu tea estate, an area prone to wildlife incidents.

When questioned by senior forest officials, Jerin confessed to editing and sharing old footage.

The video, later aired by news channels, triggered panic among residents, prompting authorities to register a case against him.

Jerin initially claimed that he and a friend had a close encounter with the tiger around 11 pm last Saturday while driving through a rubber plantation near the tea estate in a jeep.

He stated that he had filmed the big cat on his mobile phone when he noticed it remained calm.

He also claimed that the area was uninhabited and that he had zoomed in on the tiger from a distance, according to TV reports.

An investigation by the Forest Department exposed Jerin's fabrication, revealing that his video was actually edited from a three-year-old clip originally uploaded to YouTube.

Further investigation found no tiger footprints or CCTV evidence to support Jerin's claim. Confronted with this evidence, he eventually confessed to fabricating the video.

"His arrest was recorded under charges of triggering public panic and misleading the officials engaged in emergency services in the area," said a senior police officer.

Police have confiscated Jerin's mobile phone and plan to present him in court today, they added.

(inputs from PTI)