Connaught Place under fire after porn video plays on LED board; ‘Hacked,’ claims Delhi civic body

Delhi's Connaught Place came under fire after a porn video played on a digital advertisement board on Thursday, August 22, night. Delhi Police has registered an FIR following the incident, officials informed PTI on Saturday. According to the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), this could be a case of "hacking" of the screen by using advanced technology.

A police officer familiar with the matter said, “A case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) has been registered and investigations are on to nab the culprits behind the episode,” reported PTI.

The matter came to light after a passersby spotted the obscene video clip being played on one of the LED screens in Connaught Place's H Block on Thursday night, PTI quoted officials as saying. The LED screen put up at the iconic landmark that comes under NDMC area is used to display advertisements while another is used as an interactive touchscreen.

A police officer informed news agency PTI that the few seconds long pornographic video clip was later removed from the board with the help of NDMC officials.

The NDMC, under whose jurisdiction the area falls in, issued a statement after the tragic incident. It reads, “Both panels are of international standard and controlled by a server which is completely secured with a firewall and antivirus. We are also providing hotspots free of cost for public usage in the NDMC areas,” PTI reported, citing the statement.

The civic body, which has put up advertisement boards at as many as 50 locations, claimed that this incident is “one of its kind.” The NDMC further noted that it is trying to find out how the firewall was breached.

Over the tragic incident at the historic commercial area in the heart of the national capital, the NDMC underscored the security measures and said that a board at only one of these locations was breached and there was no issue at other places. 

The civic body said it is “trying to find out” the cause and the suspect behind the incident and alleged that somebody might have hacked the particular LED board “using some advance technique.”

(With PTI inputs)