Bhubaneswar, May 27 (PTI) The Odisha Police today asked people to refrain from taking law into their hands on the basis of rumours about child lifters operating in the state.

"These are completely false rumours and must be stopped," state Director General of Police R P Sharma told reporters, rubbishing such reports circulating on social media.

No such gang is operating in the state and no case of child lifting has been reported from anywhere, he said asking people to refrain from spreading such rumours.

The Police Chief's comments came in the wake of some incidents of attack on people in a few places on suspicion of them being child lifters.

"People should not take law into their hands on the basis of false rumours about child lifting," Sharma said adding action will be taken against persons taking law into their own hands.

Even if someone is found behaving suspiciously, people must first approach the police and report the matter instead of resorting to violence, he said.

SPs of all districts have been instructed to keep a strict vigil in their respective areas, he said.

Such incidents have recently been reported from Rayagada, Ganjam and Nayagarh districts, police said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)