The Kozhikode Rural Police on Saturday confirmed that the complaint lodged by a Villiyappally native that he was attacked by a gang of unidentified men during his quarantine period was fake.

Police sources said the man who recently returned from Bahrain had cooked up the story to gain social attention.

It was on Friday that the man filed a petition with the Vadakara police, claiming that he was stabbed by an unidentified gang. He also had a stab injury on his hand. The man had sought the help of local people to reach a hospital at Vadakara for treatment.

The man had claimed that he had been exposed to social media harassment for his positive comments about the initiatives of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre. However, his claims were proved false when the police examined visuals from a nearby CCTV camera.

The police had taken the incident seriously as the man had been in home quarantine after leaving the district-level quarantine centre in Kozhikode. They had also intensified search for the gang members to place them in quarantine for safety.

According to the police, the 46-year-old man, who was totally upset with the financial crisis following his return to Kerala, had cut his wrist using scissors. He did it to gain sympathy and thereby draw the attention of charity organisations, they said.