Actress Shruti Hariharan alleges image morphed, used for BJP-Mukt Karnataka campaign
- Popular Kannada actress Sruthi Hariharan was shocked to see her ‘morphed’ image circulating on social media.
- The actress posed for photos on Instagram and other sites for a campaign to save water bodies, from there her picture was stolen and morphed to attack BJP.
- Actress says she was targeted and made victim of a social media prank, while BJP party members allege the ruling party role in the incident.
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Often we have heard of filmstars and politicians images being morphed or social media accounts being hacked to tarnish their image and now you have another incident of an image of Sruthi Hariharan, a popular Kannada actress, being morphed to attack the Karnataka BJP unit.
The actress, Sruthi Hariharan, spoke to Asianet Newsable exclusively to give an Onam message to her fans and tell them about her upcoming project but she was caught unawares about the incident when Team Newsable shared with her the image of her holding a placard with a political symbol on it.
The image with the placard is being widely circulated on Whatsapp and it shows her as a campaigner against BJP. The placard shows BJP's lotus symbol in the inverted position and displays a slogan like BJP Mukth Karnataka and appeals voters to support and share the same The placard also has CM Siddaramaiah's smiling image.
The actress was taken aback. She outright said she was being targeted and that her image was morphed. Sruthi said," I had volunteered for the campaign to save rivers, lakes and water bodies but someone morphed and misused an image of mine that was taken at the event."
The actress is yet to decide about complaining to the cyber crime wing of Bengaluru City police. However, she was quick to appeal to the public and her fans and asked not to go by the false image and message from that. "I think people are matured and will not fall for such pranks," Sruthi said and added that her original image of posing with the placard to support water bodies is also on Instagram and other social media sites, and she suspects miscreants might have sourced her image from there.
Although there was no response from the film fraternity on the issue, Bengaluru City BJP Spokesperson NR Ramesh said," The image was morphed to attack BJP, and I suspect members from the ruling party had a 'hand' in the issue. The police should immediately arrest those behind this, before the issue becomes bigger or create unnecessary tension in the life of this talented and upcoming actress.”
When Newsable approached the Cyber Wing Office in Bengaluru with the issue, a senior official said, if there is any written complaint they would look into the matter.
