Google Maps, an application intended to help commuters reach their desired destination, led a team of Assam Police into Nagaland’s Mokokchung district during a raid, resulting in locals attacking and holding them captive for a night, PTI reported citing an official.
The incident took place on Tuesday night when a 16-member team of the Jorhat District Police was carrying out a raid to nab an accused, a senior Assam Police officer said.
He said that Google Maps showed a tea garden area in Assam. But in reality, the location was actually inside Nagaland. “The team went inside Nagaland in pursuit of the criminal due to confusion and misleading guidance on GPS,” he added.
The locals, however, mistook the police team for miscreants with sophisticated arms and detained them. Since 13 of the 16 officers were in civil dress, the confusion among the locals only grew. “They also attacked the team and one of our personnel was injured,” the senior official added.
After receiving information about this situation in Nagaland, the Jorhat police immediately contacted the Mokokchung Superintendent of Police, who soon after sent a team to the spot to rescue the 16-member Assam Police team.
“The locals then realised that it was a genuine police team from Assam and released five members, including the injured person,” he added.
However, the locals held the remaining 11 officials captive overnight, releasing them only in the morning. The team later returned to Jorhat.
Earlier in December, a family from Bihar, travelling to Goa, ended in a thick forest zone in Khanapur taluk in Karnataka’s Belagavi district after following Google Maps’ directions.
The situation forced the family to spend a terrifying night trapped in their car until they were rescued by local police with the help of the villagers, officials had said.
After passing through Khanapur town, the map had directed the family to a path between Shirodaga and Hemmadaga villages, leading them 7 kilometres into the Bhimghad wildlife zone.
Police had used GPS coordinates to locate the family and reach them on time.
In November last year, a tragic incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly when three persons lost their lives after their car, misguided by Google Maps, fell off an under-construction bridge and plunged into the Ramganga river.
The deceased relied on Google Maps for navigation and unknowingly, their vehicle approached an incomplete flyover. Unaware of the end, they drove onto the structure and fell into the river.
The incident came to light only the next morning when locals spotted the remains of the car in the shallow riverbed.
(with PTI inputs)