Infosys employee terminated for 'spread the virus' post on Facebook, arrested by Bengaluru Police

Indian IT giant Infosys on Friday said it has terminated the services of an employee for a social media post where he urged people to "go out and sneeze" and spread the novel coronavirus which has infected over 800 people in the country so far.

The man, identified as Mujeeb Mohammed, has been arrested by Bengaluru Police for the post.

According to reports, people had brought Infosys' attention to a post by one of its employees who wrote on Facebook, "Let's join hands, go out and sneeze with open mouth in public. Spread the virus."

On Thursday, Infosys said it was deeply concerned with the post and had launched an investigation.

In a tweet from its official handle on Friday, Infosys said the social media post by the employee is against its code of conduct and the services of the employee have been terminated.

"Infosys has completed its investigation on the social media post by one of its employees and we believe that this is not a case of mistaken identity. The social media post by the employee is against Infosys’ code of conduct and its commitment to responsible social sharing," the company said.

Infosys has a zero tolerance policy towards such acts and has accordingly, terminated the services of the employee, it said.

He has been arrested by Bengaluru Police's City Crime Branch (CCB) after a case was lodged.

"The person who put this post, saying people should go out and sneeze and spread the virus, has been detained. His name is Mujeeb and he works in a software company. A case has been registered," said Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner (CCB, Bengaluru) was quoted as saying by NDTV.

A total of 834 cases of novel coronavirus have been confirmed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The death toll in India stands at 19.