IPS officer's witty reply to 'Bangalore port destroyed' claim leaves X users in splits

A senior IPS officer’s humorous take on a bizarre online rumour about a naval strike on Bengaluru has won hearts on social media platform X, turning misinformation into a moment of comic relief.

Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, a strange claim emerged from some Pakistani social media users over the weekend, alleging that the Pakistan Navy had "destroyed Bangalore port." The absurdity of the claim quickly drew attention especially since Bengaluru, Karnataka’s capital, is a landlocked city more than 300 kilometres from the nearest coast and has no port whatsoever.

Responding to the claim, senior IPS officer Arun Bothra posted a witty reply: “Bangalore has only USB ports.” His quip went viral, drawing thousands of likes and shares. IAS officer Awanish Sharan also joined the satire, recalling a similar false claim about a “Patna sea port” being attacked despite Patna also being far from any coastline.

Netizens flooded the platform with memes and sarcastic jabs, ridiculing the geographically flawed rumours. While many laughed, others raised concerns about the spread of misinformation during periods of geopolitical strain.

Government agencies, including PIB Fact Check, have stepped in to clarify that several viral videos related to the conflict were actually clips from combat video games, not real events.