Journalist Spreading 'Child Lifting' Rumours on WhatsApp Arrested From Singrauli To Prevent Lynching Cases

Bhopal, June 28: Over the last few months, there has been an increase in lynching cases, where mobs have acted blindly. They have believed in WhatsApp forwards which are filled with messages of 'child lifters' and 'organ smugglers'. In a recent case, Singrauli Police in Madhya Pradesh has booked a local journalist for allegedly spreading rumours on WhatsApp. This comes on the back of two separate incidents, where a traditional dancer and a government surveyor were thrashed by the angry mobs.

Singrauli SP Vineet Jain as quoted in a TOI report said, “We had to take a tough action considering the situation. The Journalist Ashish Upadhyay has been charged under Section 153 of IPC (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot)." Jain said that awareness campaigns are being done in the region, asking people to ignore such rumours. “The male Nat was dressed up as a woman, so people mistook him for a child lifter. We asked him to lodge a complaint, but he refused. We are trying to identify those who attacked him based on footage,” added the SP.

Timely intervention of Police in the Balaghat last Sunday has helped to prevent an Assam-lynching rerun. Two men were allegedly beaten to death over a WhatsApp rumour that organ thieves are roaming around. The videos being circulated online showed organs being removed from the body, while the person was still alive.

In the month of April, Bengaluru Police arrested 13 people for allegedly lynching a 26-year-old man from Rajasthan at Pension Mohalla in the city’s Chamrajpet area. The mob mistook the victim to be a kidnapper and beat him up. They had apparently seen videos being circulated on social media, warning about a child trafficking gang in Bengaluru.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 28, 2018 04:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).