Ghost-prank lands Bengaluru YouTubers in lockup

BENGALURU: Seven YouTubers, ghost-pranking unsuspecting commuters on the streets of Mathikere, were arrested by Yeshwantpur police in the wee hours of Monday. The youths, all students and friends, were filming videos for their channel 'Kooky Pedia'.
These pranksters are copycats of Jalals, the Australian brother-trio whose pranks got them 24 million followers on Faceboook and 3.4m subscribers on YouTube.Police said the Bengaluru students have uploaded 11 videos, including a ghost prank, on their channel.
Police said they took the matter seriously as they were on alert in the backdrop of the Ayodhya verdict
S Malik, Naveed, S Mohammed, Saqib, S Nabeel, Yousuf A and M Aquib are 20 years old and residents of RT Nagar. "They were scaring people by wearing white robes and long-hair wigs at Sharif Nagar in Mathikere," said N Shashikumar, DCP (north).
'They spooked many people’
The videos, in which people are seen running helter-skelter on coming faceto-face with the ghostly figures, was to be uploaded to their YouTube page, said N Shashikumar, DCP. “They are pursuing engineering, agricultural science, business management and computer application courses in different colleges in Bengaluru,” he added.
Police said the youths landed in Sharif Nagar around 2am and started intercepting motorists and pedestrians. While a few ignored them, many others were spooked.
A few locals alerted police and Yeshwantpur police inspector CB Shivaswamy, who was on night patrol, rushed to the spot and arrested them. “While one of them acted as a dead man, others surrounded him in white robes, and acted weirdly. That added to the anxiety of passersby,” said police.
Though the students maintained that they were playing pranks to make people laugh, police did not agree. “It’s not acceptable to ghost-prank. Who is responsible if something goes wrong, or someone meets with an accident or has a cardiac arrest?,” said police.
Cops pointed out that the Jalals had been detained three years ago and had to tender an apology.
Yeshwantpur police said the students had apologised. “We registered a case of criminal intimidation, causing public nuisance and unlawful gathering at public places. The charges are bailable and we released them on station bail after warning them not to repeat the offence,” said an officer.