Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mumbai Police have registered a case against a man for spreading rumours on social media in connection with the coronavirus. The officials from the JJ Marg police station stated that a message was circulating on WhatsApp groups and social media that the military was being called to control crowds at some places in Mumbai.
The message reads, ""Mumbai' Null Bazar, Bhendi Bazar, Dongari, Madanpura, Kala Pani, Sat Rasta area is uncontrollable by the police, hence military has been called. They will use force, lathi charge as well as firing to control the mob."
The JJ Marg station police learned that the message was initially posted in a WhatsApp group named Mumbai Ekta group. The message was posted by a man named Sohail Punjabi. Upon investigation, Sohail was traced to the Peru lane area of Pathan Wadi locality Mumbai.
A case has been registered against Sohail under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act for spreading rumours.
This isn't the first time, a false claim amid the nCOVID-19 pandemic is being made. Someone had previously put out a message, which was later debunked by Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Vice-President Mihir Kotecha. The viral message consisted of rumours of coronavirus outbreak in Mulund. Mihir Kotecha is a BJP MLA from Mulund assembly constituency.
An image – with a label of ‘breaking news’ - was doing rounds on Whatsapp and social media claiming that five cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Thane-Mulund suburb.
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