Seven metro stations shut as rumours spread like wildfire
NEW DELHI: The police asked residents of the national capital on Sunday not to believe in rumours and maintain calm after what they described as attempts to spread “fake news” close on the heels of last week’s communal violence in north-east Delhi that left 42 people dead and about 350 injured.
“Some unsubstantiated reports of tense situations in Delhi are being circulated on social media and messaging applications. It is to reiterate that these are all rumours. Kindly don’t pay attention to such news. Delhi Police are closely monitoring the social media accounts spreading fake news. Action will be taken against these anti-social elements. Please convey any such thing to the police on 112,” additional commissioner of police (crime) MS Randhawa said.
He also said the situation in north-east Delhi, where communal violence took place, is also under control. Randhawa added that two suspects were detained for rumour-mongering.
The clarification by the police came following rumours of stonepelting, firing and vandalism in residential areas and shops in parts of Delhi on Sunday evening.
The police control room received several calls till late into the night. Officials said all such claims turned out to be false. But in view of the scare, the police ensured heavy deployment across the Capital and senior officers were seen on the ground assuring residents of their areas to remain calm.
Between 7.45pm and 8:20pm, seven metro stations — Tilak Nagar, Nangloi, Surajmal Stadium, Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Uttam Nagar West and Nawada — were shut by the (DMRC, adding to the confusion.
A metro official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “We were asked by the security agencies to close the exit gates because crowd started gathering around these stations. This was done for security reasons.”
But the local police said they did not request DMRC to shut the stations. “It was only after some metro stations were shut in west Delhi, we started getting calls from people asking if there was a law and order problem,” joint commissioner of police (western range) Shalini Singh said.
Another incident in west Delhi’s Khyala, where a police team went to raid a betting racket, fuelled further panic. A police officer from the area, who did not want to be named, said local residents mistook the suspects, who were fleeing from the spot, as rioters. Joint commissioner Singh, however, said it was a local incident and the panic was contained quickly.
But even from parts of southeast Delhi such as Chittaranjan Park, Kalkaji, Madanpur Khadar and Shaheen Bagh, the police received calls about mob violence. Shaheen Bagh, the site of a sit-in against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, was barricaded and there was heavy security. Shops in different parts of south-east Delhi downed shutter after the rumours spread.
Joint commissioner of police (southern range) Devesh Srivastava said they checked every call that reported violence, but all turned out to be false alarms.
“We found no signs of law and order problem in the area. We also visited Shaheen Bagh and requested the gathering there to not believe in any such rumour that may lead to panic,” Srivastava said. There were rumours in Rohini about a firing. DCP (Rohini) SD Mishra said: “We got it checked and it was found to be a rumour.”