Cyber cops track down those behind Army deployment rumours

The Maharashtra police's cyber wing has tracked down people who were responsible for spreading rumours on social media that the Indian Army would be deployed in coronavirus hotspots in Mumbai and Pune, officials said on Friday. Amid the lockdown, panic prevailed a few days ago after cyber miscreants widely circulated messages on social media platforms that the Army would be deployed in COVID-19-hit areas of Mumbai and Pune, the cities worst-hit by the infection in Maharashtra.

The state government quickly denied any such move, while cyber sleuths launched a probe to track down the source of such unfounded messages. The Mumbai police, through their official Twitter handle, said such messages were fake and appealed to people not to believe them and avoid forwarding them to other users so as to break the chain of transmission. During the investigation, the cyber wing was able to track down people responsible for creating and spreading such fake messages, an official said. Stringent legal action will be taken against them, he said.

"People who circulate such fake and unverified news on social media platforms seek to cause panic among citizens and create chao. They will face stringent legal action from authorities," the official asserted.

Clamping down on online rumours, fake news, misinformation and hate speeches, the Maharashtra Cyber has registered 439 offences and arrested 238 persons ever since the coronavirus-fuelled lockdown came into force in March-end, he said. At least 183 offences were registered for forwarding objectionable WhatsApp posts and another 173 for sharing such messages on Facebook, the official added.