PETALING JAYA: Indonesian authorities confirmed that the alleged disappearance of a social media personality at the Hutan Bambu Keramat Cemetery in Bandung, Indonesia was a hoax and a staged act.
According to mStar, a spokesperson for the Panyileukan district police, known as Kompol Kurnia, said that it was sensationalised content created to increase viewership and followers.
"Interrogations revealed that they had made a live broadcast at Bukit Embah Garut RT 05, RW 09, Cisurupan Village, Cibiru District, Bandung City via TikTok on Sunday. Their sensational story was titled 'Malaysian influencer (Eyka) disappears for 48 hours after creating paranormal content'," he said.
The content they created did not have official permission, even though it was approved by the local regional manager.
"They were not aware that Indonesian law imposes severe penalties for spreading false news," Kurnia added.
The group involved has apologised to the police and issued a written statement along with a confession video, stating that they would not repeat such an act.
Earlier, Eyka, also a friend of the social media sensation Ammar Nazhan, was reported missing in the forest before being found safe at 10pm on Wednesday, in a weakened state.
When contacted by mStar, Ammar rejected all allegations and online claims stating that the disappearance of a team member was a fabrication.
"This really happened because we have finished giving a statement to the police, everything is okay now. How can they say that when they have no connection with the incident here (in Bandung)," he said.
