Bengaluru Police Book Unknown Instagram User Over AI Video of Bomb Blast at Vidhana Soudha

The Vidhana Soudha police in Bengaluru have registered a case against an unidentified person for allegedly uploading an AI-generated video that depicts a bomb blast at the Vidhana Soudha, the building that houses the Karnataka legislature and the state secretariat.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed on October 20, the video was posted from an Instagram account with the handle 'jnx__king__h_g'. The post carried a caption in Hindi that claimed the assembly building had been blown up with a bomb.

The complaint states that the video showed the Vidhana Soudha being destroyed in an explosion. The person behind the account is alleged to have created the footage using artificial intelligence tools, edited it to add the blast, and then published it on the social media platform.

The matter came to light when a police team tasked with monitoring social media came across the post on October 20, the FIR records. The case was registered suo motu — on the police's own initiative — by the inspector of the Vidhana Soudha police station. Officials have invoked relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the law that replaced the Indian Penal Code last year. The FIR does not name the accused, and no arrest has been reported so far.

The Vidhana Soudha is among Bengaluru's most closely guarded public buildings. Completed in 1956, it is the seat of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, and it also houses offices of the state government. Fabricated imagery of an attack on such an institution has the potential to cause public alarm, particularly because edited videos can spread far faster than clarifications.

The case reflects a growing challenge for law enforcement agencies across the country. Inexpensive and widely available AI tools now allow users to generate realistic-looking photographs and videos of events that never took place, including explosions, accidents and violent incidents. Police forces in several states have begun dedicating teams to tracking social media content, and cases involving doctored or synthetic media are increasingly being registered.

Legal experts note that while the technology is new, the harm alleged is familiar: false content that can trigger panic, damage public confidence or incite unrest. Investigators will need to establish who operated the account, whether the video was created by that person or sourced from elsewhere, and what intent lay behind the post. Until that inquiry is complete, the allegations remain unproven, and the identity of the account holder has not been disclosed.

For readers, the case is a reminder that not every dramatic video circulating online is genuine. Users are generally advised to check whether a clip has been reported by established news organisations, to look for official statements from police or government authorities, and to be cautious about forwarding content whose origin cannot be verified.

The police have not announced further details about the investigation or the steps being taken to trace the account holder.