The Uttar Pradesh Police, on Wednesday (Feb 19), registered two cases against social media accounts accused of sharing and selling explicit videos of women pilgrims bathing at the Maha Kumbh.

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The move came under the directives of Uttar Pradesh police chief Prashant Kumar as part of a broader effort to combat misleading and offensive social media content related to the religious gathering. 

The move came after the social media monitoring team detected these platforms uploading, and sharing videos of women bathing and changing clothes, prompting the police to register cases at the Kotwali Kumbh Mela police station. Legal proceedings are now underway to address this serious breach of privacy and dignity, the police said in a statement.

A case was lodged on Monday (February 17) against an Instagram account for allegedly sharing inappropriate videos of women pilgrims.

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The police said that they have asked for information from tech giant Meta, which owns Instagram, to identify the user operating the account so that action can be taken against the individual.

Another case was registered against a Telegram channel on Wednesday (Feb 19), for putting similar videos out for sale.

The police said that legal proceedings were initiated against the channel and further investigation was underway.

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Also read: UP CM Yogi Adityanath slams Mamata Banerjee over ‘Mrityu-Kumbh’ remark

High levels of faecal bacteria found in Sangam waters? UP CM Yogi rejects reports

Meanwhile, the 'Sangam' waters in India's Prayagraj were found to be contaminated with alarming levels of faecal bacteria, said a government agency. 

Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, rejected the report and slammed the Opposition, saying that "they have been against the Maha Kumbh since day 1". CM Yogi, while addressing the UP assembly, said that 'Sangam' water is "fit for drinking". 

The Information Department of India's Uttar Pradesh state said that more than 555.6 million people had taken the holy dip till February 18. 

(With inputs from agencies)