A man was arrested on a charge of fraudulent obstruction of business
after allegedly posting a Twitter that a lion was running loose in the
city, according to police in Japan.
Kumamoto police said that they have arrested 20-year-old Kazuki Sato,
after being accused of scaring the city by falsely reporting that a lion
escaped from the Kumamoto Zoo and Botanical Gardens, following an
earthquake.
According to the police investigation, Sato took a photo of a city
street and photo shopped a lion into the scene. He then uploaded the
photo on Twitter, saying that a lion was on the loose in the city.
Sato admitted that he posted the photo because he wanted to scare people
following earthquake. The message was retweeted more than 20,000 times.
More than 100 people called the Kumamoto Zoo and Botanical Gardens, to
report that the lion escaped from its premises and is on the loose in
the city.
Officials at the zoo decided to call the police after the phone calls just did not stop.