Covid-19: Cops crack down on fake news, teams set up for monitoring

Cracking down on those spreading fake news on the coronavirus crisis, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta on Thursday announced the constitution

Cracking down on those spreading fake news on the coronavirus crisis, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta on Thursday announced the constitution of a special team to monitor all social media platforms, as well as to identify and take action against anyone found to be circulating false news.

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The team will be headed by an ADGP-rank office to be stationed at police headquarters, the DGP said, directing all district police chiefs to take prompt action against those spreading false news. He said the onus of spreading false news would be the admin of WhatsApp group, and, therefore, group admins should cooperate with police in identifying those elements who want to usurp their group for their personal agenda.

21 OPEN JAILS FOR CURFEW VIOLATORS

Gupta said that to strictly enforce the curfew in the state, the police and district administration were setting up open jails for curfew violators. Twenty-one such jails were already operational, with more to be notified tomorrow, he said, adding that anyone found violating the curfew would be sent to these jails and booked under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.