Anticipating a law-and-order situation, the Shamli police have registered two FIRs against people for spreading false rumors on WhatsApp in the aftermath of the Kairana exodus in Uttar Pradesh.
The police said they are monitoring 50 groups on WhatsApp to prevent rumour-mongering that may cause hateful provocation and violence, according to an Indian Express report.
"In the last two days, we have identified two messages, which were found to be derogatory and FIRs have been lodged," Circle Officer (City) Nishank Sharma was quoted by IE as saying
The first case was lodged against a local resident named Vinay Garg and one unidentified person at Kotwali police station on charges of wanton provocation with intent to cause riot. However, no arrests have been made.
"Vinay had posted that people of a particular community had ransacked the Kotwali police station when they were denied permission to offer prayer on the first floor of the police station building. He also wrote that no action has been taken against those people. The message was totally false and no such incident had happened," Station House Officer Satish Rai said.
In another incident, Kandhla police station registered a case against Mohit Sharma and Ashutosh Pandey for provocation with intent to cause riot and promoting enmity between different religions. While Sharma is out on bail, the police are attempting to trace Pandey.
"Ashutosh had posted a message targeting a particular community, which could led to problem of a law and order situation." Kandhla SHO Sahab Singh said.
Meanwhile six activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, including the national general secretary, state president and vice-president, were arrested in Kairana for violating prohibitory orders. They were released on personal bonds by the sub divisional magistrate court in Muzaffarnagar, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
