Covid-19: In virtual world, Haryana cops battle hate posts, rumours
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 2
Besides enforcing Covid lockdown strictly, Haryana Police are fighting another battle against communal posts, rumours and fake news.
In Nuh, a mob attacked a family in Bichhore village on April 18, after circulation of a communal post by one of its members. The police had booked 51 people for the clash where three people got injured.
As the communal posts have the potential to spark riots or clashes, Haryana Police launched a special drive against such posts on social media like WhatsApp, Facebook, Tik Tok and Twitter.
On April 3, a person of Siroli village under Punahana police station was booked for mobilising his community for standing for Tablighi Jamaat chief Mohammad Saad, who is absconding in a case of organising congregation at Nizamuddin Markaj in New Delhi. Once, Tablighi Jamaat people started turning Covid positive in large numbers in Haryana, communal poison started spreading on social media.
In Meham (Rohtak), Sunil Kumar’s family panicked after a news story was posted on Facebook that they were hiding 20 Tablighi Jamaat workers in their house. Fearing attacks, they got registered a FIR against the fake news on April 8.
During the period of lockdown till May 1, Haryana Police have so far registered 91 cases against 116 people for circulation of communal posts and fake news. As many as 54 people have been arrested in these cases till now. The maximum cases have been registered from Kurukshetra and Rohtak, where 10 cases each have been registered. In Kurukshetra 12 people have been booked while four have been arrested. In Rohtak, eight people have been arrested so far.
Nuh and Hisar follows them with eight cases each have been registered. In Sonepat, six cases have been registered against 21 people and four have been arrested.
The police also encountered posts related to expulsion of minority community, comparison of Pulwama attack with spread of disease and also rumours about specific people being turning Covid positive or negative.
“Regarding Bichhore incident, we have organised a peace meeting involving panchayats of nearby villages today. The village elders have warned youths against posting inflammatory posts,” said SP Nuh Narendra Bijarniya.
“We have technical means to track social media posts. People have also filed complaints about them. We are strict in taking action against all those posts which are intended to spread communal hatred,” said ADGP Law and Order Navdeep Singh Virk.
He advised the general public neither to post unverified information on their social media accounts nor forward it to others on messaging apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, as they could land in trouble.
Earlier, the police have registered 21 FIRs against 92 persons with 28 arrests for attack on religious minorities.
Cases registered
Kurukshetra 10
Rohtak 10
Hisar 8
Nuh 8
Sonepat 6
Charkhi Dadri 6
In total 91 cases have been registered against 116 people while 54 have been arrested so far.
