Meanwhile, victims are defamed on social media by the man
The police in Thimphu say they are now receiving more defamation cases against 27-year-old Osman Osang Daniel Gurung, aka Daniel from Kalikhola in Dagana, for defaming people with untrue stories on social media.
“The case is still under investigation and we are tracking the culprit,” the police said, adding that the last location of his presence was near the Nepal border.
Business Bhutan, meanwhile, reported about how Osman Osang Daniel Gurung had conned almost five people in the country of money that totals up to Nu 1mn in its April 23, 2022 edition.
Business Bhutan learnt that after the article was published by this newspaper, it has alerted Daniel and made him make more defamatory statements of the victims and their families on social media.
Fake news and photos of most of Daniel’s victims with their family members and friends can be seen on Facebook, which is posted by Daniel using an anonymous Facebook account under the name of Sonam Wangchuk.
Daniel, meanwhile, confessed to some of the victims and their family members that until the journalist stops writing about him and the police stop investigating the case, he will not stop defaming them on social media.
One of the victims said, “Fake news on social media about us has created lots of problems among family members.”
“I don’t know what people think about me when Daniel posts fake news about me, but my family members have questioned me on this,” he said, adding that he feels insecure and helpless when his photos are uploaded with fake news.
He said fake news about most of the victims of Daniel have been trending recently on social media.
Victims say they have already lost their money.
“Now, it’s better to forget the case because of the defamation on social media and having to simultaneously get messages of death threats from Daniel,” they say.
Business Bhutan learnt that most of the victims are reluctant to register a case with the police against Daniel as the victims have been scared after they were defamed on various social media pages with untrue stories about them.
Additionally, two more victims, who are not in the list of the earlier five victims, do not want to mention their names and report to the police as they are also scared.
“We will come forward to file the case to the police if he is caught and brought back to Bhutan,” they said over the phone.
One of the new victims said that on February 4 this year, she paid Nu 7,484 for shirts and shoes that she had ordered from Daniel on social media. However, she didn’t receive any of the ordered items.
“When I tried to contact him on Messengers, he blocked me from Facebook and WhatsApp,” she said.
“The screenshot of the paid amount got deleted and if I check on the bank statements, there will be a record of my payment. I have some proof of the purchase order and conversations with him through WhatsApp.”
She added, “I’m still a student and that amount means a lot to me.”
While exchanging messages on WhatsApp during an interview for the story with Daniel, Daniel had also shared that he will defame all the victims including the reporter on social media.
It has been found that Daniel used various social media pages to post fake articles and make false posts about the victims using an anonymous Facebook account with the name of Sonam Wangchuk.
According to the police, the victims’ family members have also reported cases stating that they have been harassed and defamed on social media and personally accused on WhatsApp with death threats among others.
Kinley Yonten from Thimphu
