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Bukit Aman: Thieves stole disabled man’s identity to post fake news on Johor Sultan

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested a 23-year-old factory worker in Pekan, Pahang on Sunday for allegedly posting a fake news about Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s demise.

However, they now believed that the man, who has a learning disability, could not have posted the remark and are working to track down the people responsible for it.

“We believe someone may have used his identity to create the social media account and posted the remark online,” said Federal Criminal Investigations Department director Datuk Huzir Mohamed.

During questioning, he said, investigators found that the factory worker was not computer-savvy enough to make such post.

“(Also) He only owned a normal telephone…(Thus), we believe a third party had used his identity to commit the offence,” Huzir said in Bukit Aman today.

He said police have narrowed down a list of suspects who could have made the post and would start to make arrests soon.

“For now, we have released the man on police bail,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 4 (1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

The fake news on the Johor Sultan’s demise has been making its rounds on the social media as well as WhatsApp messages since Saturday, leading up to a report being lodged by the palace official on the same day.

Source: NST