Rumours fuel lynching menace
FAKE VIDEO Scores of incidents of locals thrashing ‘suspiciouslooking’ innocents have been reported in the country NEW DELHI:
A fake WhatsApp video peddling fear of an interstate gang stealing children has claimed 14 lives across the country since May 20 despite police warning people not to believe in such rumours.
Scores of incidents of locals thrashing “suspicious-looking” innocents have been reported from different states in the past month or so.
The latest victim of this frenzy gripping the country was, ironically, an activist hired by the Tripura government to create awareness among people about viral social media messages targeting outsiders.
Most such social media forwards target outsiders, branding them as child-lifters.
Sukanta Chakraborty was hired by the Tripura government after a couple of incidents in which outsiders were attacked in remote areas of the state.
His death on Thursday afternoon shows how difficult it is for the authorities to convince locals not to believe in these baseless child-lifter rumours.
Tripura director general of police Akhil Kumar Shukla blamed the social media for the fear-mongering among villagers in remote areas, which is difficult for them to check. “We have asked people not to believe in such rumours and are running an awareness campaign,” he said.
Director general of police M Mahender Reddy of Telangana, the state where the first lynchings were reported on May 20, had appealed to people to not believe in such fake news and warned them against taking the law into their own hands. “If you find someone suspicious please inform police. We will find out and initiate action on those who are spreading these messages on social media,” he said.
The Gujarat police has said that the video being circulated on the social media was shot by a Pakistan based NGO Roshni Helpline to create awareness against child-lifting.
The crime branch has also said that bodies shown in the clips are of Syrian children, who are victims of war.
Most state police departments have issued similar appeals saying that not even a single child kidnapping case has been reported from the places where the dozen-odd lynchings have taken place.
State police departments have also asked their cyber cells to monitor social media messages and asked internet service providers to get them deleted.
“The problem is once the message gets viral it is difficult to check it. If people stop believing in such message, the problem can be handled,” said Odisha DGP RP Sharma.
We will find out and initiate action on those who are spreading these on social media. MAHENDER REDDY, DGP Telangana
A 40-year-old was killed and three other women were injured when a mob thrashed them in
Ahmedabad on June
26. Over a dozen incidents of beating have been reported from other districts in the past one month.
1
(1) Two persons were reportedly beaten to death and seven other injured in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra on June 8. Police said a mob of around 1,500 attacked them with wooden sticks saying they were kidnappers A 24-year-old construction labourer from Rajasthan was lynched by a mob on May 24. Police said the victim Kaluram was tied up, dragged on the road and beaten with clubs and sticks. He died on way to the hopsital.
2
(0)
1
Assaulted (0) Arrested (14)
1 2
(6)
2
(4)
28 2
(42)
Assaulted (70) Arrested Two persons were beaten to death in separate incidents in Visakhapatnam. 12 persons were assaulted in first incident on May 20 from and second assault happened was day later in Gajuwaka area, where two beggars were assaulted. One death was reported from each incident.
2
(43)
2
(4) Two persons, suspected of being child-lifters, were lynched in Bengal in the 10 days between June 13 and June 23. Seven persons were beaten by locals in different incidents in Malda district Two persons were killed in separate incidents. On May 22 night, a person was allegedly lynched in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district and a day later a tribal youth was beaten to death. 9 labourers were thrashed by villagers in another district in last week of May
Data of money deposited by Indians in Swiss banks will be available to the government under an agreement signed with Switzerland for automatic exchange of information, union finance minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.
The agreement for automatic exchange of information was signed between Switzerland and India last November under which both countries would start collecting data in accordance with the global standards in 2018 and exchange it from 2019, Goyal told reporters here on the sidelines of an Institute of Cost Accountants of India event.
He was responding to media questions on the data released by the Swiss National Bank showing a rise in Indian deposits last year.
“Under an agreement signed by the Modi government with Switzerland, all this data from the period January 1, 2018, will be made available to us,” Goyal said.
“From what I understand (from the media reports) 40% increase in foreign remittances are on account of the Reserve Bank’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme brought during the previous (UPA) government under which a resident Indian can remit $250,000 per year,” he said.
“Then there are also non-resident deposits in this. Rest assured, if there is any wrongdoing revealed, we will take action,” Piyush Goyal added.
NEWDELHI: