A pornographic clip was displayed on a digital advertisement board of Connaught Place in Delhi on Friday night. The incident took place around 10:30 PM in the H block area. A passerby who noticed the explicit content recorded it and reported the incident to the police.
According to news agency ANI, after the complaint, the Delhi Police registered a case under the IT Act and launched an investigation. The police confirmed the registration of a case after receiving the video from the individual who reported the incident.
As a result of this incident, the government agency which was responsible for the digital advertisement board was temporarily shut down. While the investigation is ongoing to identify those responsible. "The video clip spanning a few seconds was later removed from the board with the help of civic authorities," a police officer said, news agency PTI reported.
NDMC Releases Statement
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which oversees the area, released a statement stating that the incident may have involved "hacking" the screen using advanced technology. The council explained that it operates two types of panels in its areas: one for advertisements and another as an interactive touchscreen.
"Both panels meet international standards and are managed by a server that is fully secured with a firewall and antivirus. We also offer free public Wi-Fi hotspots in NDMC areas," the statement said.
The civic body described the incident as "one of its kind" and is investigating how the firewall was breached, and mentioned that it has installed advertisement boards at 50 locations within its jurisdiction.
They noted that only one board was compromised, while all others were not affected. The breach likely involved some advanced technique, which the civic body is working to identify.