21-07-2025
Punjab Police investigating ‘cybersecurity breach' of its X handle after derogatory post
The Punjab Police is investigating a possible cybersecurity breach after a derogatory post was made public from its official X handle.
The post appeared on the handle of Punjab Police on X on the intervening night of July 17-18 in the form of an AI generated image apparently based on the George Floyd incident in the USA in May 2020. The post was noticed by many X users and a war of tweets had erupted between Indian and Pakistani handles. At one point there was a further reply by the Punjab Police handle with a cryptic 'X' in red colour.
The derogatory post was quickly pointed out in the middle by a prominent handle on X by the name of @Joydas. 'This is an actual tweet by Punjab Police India. They chose an image which depicts the worst racism and police brutality in US to score a point. This image was viral worldwide to represent Police Atrocity but Punjab Police thought this is what they stand for,' he wrote tagging the Punjab Police post.
It has come to our attention that a contentious post was briefly visible on the official Punjab Police X handle and has since been deleted.
Preliminary findings indicate that the imagery used in the post was AI-generated. We are currently investigating whether this incident…
— Punjab Police India (@PunjabPoliceInd) July 20, 2025
Senior Supreme Court Advocate Sanjay Hegde also noticed the image and posted on his handle on X tagging Punjab Police and the DGP saying these kinds of posts were best avoided.
The Punjab Police official handle on X put out a post later in the evening referring to the incident as a possible cybersecurity breach and said, 'It has come to our attention that a contentious post was briefly visible on the official Punjab Police X handle and has since been deleted. Preliminary findings indicate that the imagery used in the post was AI-generated. We are currently investigating whether this incident resulted from unauthorised access.'
'Our technical teams are actively probing the matter, including the possibility of a cybersecurity breach. We urge the public not to circulate unverified content and to rely only on information shared through our verified official handles. Your trust and safety remain our highest priority. Punjab Police does not endorse any such content in any form'.
The George Floyd incident had hit the headlines on May 25, 2020. Floyd, 46, died in Minneapolis, USA, when a policeman knelt on his neck for over nine minutes while he was being handcuffed. The incident had led to widespread protests and riots in the USA.
