Maharashtra cops on edge after TikTok stunts on flooded rivers

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, August 2

A slew of stunt videos on short video mobile app TikTok where young men and women jump off bridges into flooded rivers in different parts of Maharashtra has sparked off an alert.

On Friday, several videos featuring young men and women jumping off bridges across swollen rivers have gone viral on social media.

According to police officials, the videos are of people jumping off bridges in Sangli in Western Maharashtra and Palghar on the outskirts of Mumbai. “We are trying to locate the people who performed the stunts and take action against them,” an official from the state police department said.

One of the earliest videos which went viral today showed some young boys and a girl jumping off a bridge across the swollen Krishna river in Maharashtra’s Sangli district. While the girl was seen jumping off in slow motion with music playing in the background in one video, the other featured several youth jumping into the river one after the other while being cheered by spectators.

Police sources say cases can be file against everyone participating in the making of the video and even the cheering spectators who egged them on.

The fate of the young people performing the stunts is still not known.

However, the police said they have not received any missing persons report following the stunts.

The short videos which are about 15 seconds long have become a craze among youths looking for instant fame.

Reports say the stunt has been replicated in different parts of the country with tragic consequences.