Manipur cops crack down on fake news

The Manipur police on Saturday booked the spokesperson and leaders of the ITLF for allegedly circulating a fake news

Grappling to restore normalcy and put an end to incidents of violence in the ethnic strife-torn state, the Manipur police have started filing cases against those circulating rumours and fake news on social media platforms, officers familiar with the development said.

Police officers, requesting anonymity, said the top brass of the force held a meeting last week in which it was decided to tackle the rumours in two ways (ANI)

In their latest first information report (FIR) on Saturday, the Manipur police booked the spokesperson and leaders of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an umbrella group of Kuki organisations in Churachandpur, for allegedly circulating a fake news about arms and ammunition being brought into the state by the recently started goods train service.

The development comes in the backdrop of state chief secretary Vineet Joshi’s letter to the chief minister N Biren Singh’s office last week alleging that some civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-government organisations (NGOs) were releasing false and unverified information related to the ethnic clashes in Manipur. The letter, seen by HT, said such rumours and fake reports were “impeding the peace restoration process.”

Police officers, requesting anonymity, said the top brass of the force held a meeting last week in which it was decided to tackle the rumours in two ways. “The first is by actively countering the rumours on social media and the second by registering FIRs if people are deliberately circulating rumours to disrupt peace,” a mid-level police officer said. “More people are sharing unverified videos and making false claims, now that the broadband internet is restored in the state. The cyber cell has been asked to actively track social media platforms.”

On Friday evening, a Manipur legislator wrote on Twitter that a convoy of 11 bullet-proof vehicles of Manipur state commando, including Arambai Tenggol — a radical Meitei organisation —, tried to forcibly enter and attack a Kuki town in Moreh, but were halted by women protesters. Within hours, the Manipur police deemed the information “misleading”, clarifying that the police have planned to move one company of India Reserve Battalion but this was halted by women protesters.

Police have also filed a case against one Twitter user for impersonating the official handle of Manipur police (using the same profile photo) and releasing information on social media.

“We had anticipated this problem once internet services were partially restored. Action will be taken against all those who circulate fake news and reports deliberately to cause friction between the communities,” the officer cited above said. “More police personnel are being posted to the cyber cell police station so that there is effective monitoring.”

The state government had on July 25 ordered to conditionally lift the internet ban which has been in place since May 3, the day ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state between numerically dominant Meitei community — which forms 53% of the state population and mostly inhabit Imphal Valley — and tribal Kukis, who live primarily in the hill districts.

However, only broadband internet has been allowed, albeit with a clutch of restrictions, while mobile internet services remain suspended.

On Saturday, police filed an FIR under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, etc) among others of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the spokesperson and leaders of ITLF for allegedly circulating fake rumours of arms and ammunition being brought into the state by a recently started goods train service. The FIR was based on a complaint lodged by traders of Khongsang area in Tamenglong district, who alleged that the ITLF circulated false rumours by alleging that the train brought arms and ammunition. The traders also said that the train had in fact brought goods for their shops.

“By filing an FIR, it is another way of suppressing the voice of the tribals of Manipur,” ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said. “ITLF spoke about the threat which may result from the arm ferry from Khangsang train. If the allegations are not true, they just have to clarify. There is no need for FIR...”

On July 24, the first goods train carrying essential items from Guwahati reached the Khongsang railway station. To be sure, the start of the goods service was hailed important because the delivery of essential items via train makes the multiple road blockades on the state highway by women from both communities irrelevant.

Last week, the state police also filed two FIRs against unidentified individuals for allegedly morphing videos of women being assaulted by men in uniform from Myanmar and showing it to be from Manipur, and another for morphing photos of a state BJP leader with a caption that he was involved in the May 4 viral video case of Nongpok Sekmai, where three women were stripped, one of them gang-raped and their two male relatives murdered.

At least 150 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced in Manipur since May 3, when violent clashes broke out after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill district of Churachandpur to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.