'Sneeze in Open, Spread the Virus': Engineer Detained in Bengaluru, Infosys Terminates His Services

Bengaluru: A software engineer was detained in Bengaluru on Friday for giving a call to people to spread the coronavirus by going out and sneezing in the open.

The person, identified as Mujeeb Mohammad, is reportedly an employee of tech giant Infosys. As part of his description in a social media site, Mohammad is a senior technology architect at Infosys. The company wrote on its Twitter account his services were being terminated after due investigation.

In a Facebook post, Mohammad wrote, "Let's join hands, go out and sneeze with open mouth in public. Spread the virus."

"The person who put this post saying people should go out and sneeze and spread the virus has been detained. His name is Mujeeb. He works in a software company," Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil said in a statement, adding an investigation is underway.

“He has been a resident of Bengaluru for around 25 years. A case has been registered against him," Patil said.

The man was booked under Section 505 (making statement which causes alarm or fear in public, and also inciting & provokes others) of the Indian Penal Code.

Late on Friday evening, Infosys said the man was indeed an employee of the company and as the post was against the code of conduct of the company, his services were being terminated.

On Thursday, Infosys had said, "We are deeply concerned with an inappropriate post being attributed to an Infosys employee. We strongly reaffirm our commitment to responsible social-sharing.”

"Our preliminary enquiry, and discussions with our employees suggest that this could be a case of a mistaken identity... However, given the seriousness with which we take such matters, we are investigating this further and will also assist with any independent investigation. The company would take appropriate action based on its investigation," it added.