Cast Ballot Hoax Creator Mentioned Politicians in His Tweets

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Suspect behind the fake news on ballots that have been cast (cast ballots), Bagus Bawana Putra, initially mentioned four known political figures in his Twitter post, namely Fadli Zon, Fahri Hamzah, Andi Arief, and Mustofa Nahrawardaya.

“The suspect spread the hoax through an account named @bagnatara1 where he mentioned several political figures but he erased the account once it went viral,” said Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo, spokesman of the Indonesian National Police (Polri).

Read: Police Arrest Hoax Creator on Cast Ballots

Based on the timeline of his tweets, Tempo found that he first tweeted about the fictitious event on January 1, 2019, at 23:35 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) which read;

“There’s information of the discovery of 7 containers in tanjung priok that are filled with voting ballots that have already been cast favoring one of the presidential hopefuls.. I don’t know if it’s a hoax or not, let’s check this together in Tanjung Priok now Cc @fadlizon , @AkunTofa , @AndiArief__ @Fahrihamzah."

Read: Police Pledge to Reveal Probe Results in Ballot Uproar

The account was then erased while the SIM card together with the mobile phone he used to create the hoax was thrown away with intentions to cover his tracks.

“However, digital footprints cannot be erased completely even though it has been erased. The Polri cyber team is competent to unravel that,” said Dedi who also said that Bagus Bawana Putra will be charged with article 14 (1) and (2) of Law No. 1/1946.

ANDITA RAHMA