Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], August 31 : Uttarakhand Police cracked down on anyone spreading rumours regarding the change of Chief Minister amidst disaster relief operations in the state, registering a case against three Facebook page operators for spreading misleading and false information on social media, according to an official statement from the police.
On Saturday, Dehradun Police registered a case against three Facebook page operators after the BJP Mahanagar President of Dehradun, Siddharth Agarwal, lodged a complaint regarding the rumours.
The statement mentioned that the complaint letter stated that the Bageshwar, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Pithoragarh districts of the state are most affected by the disaster at present.
"In such a difficult time, spreading false news like change of Chief Minister not only creates hindrance in relief and rescue operations, but also affects government work and administrative system."
According to officials, misleading and false posts related to the change of CM were circulated from Facebook pages 'I Love My Uttarakhand Culture', 'Uttarakhand Wale' and 'Janata Jan Andolan Irritated'.
"On this basis, strict legal action is being implemented by registering a case against the three page operators," the statement read.
Uttarakhand Police has also appealed to the general public to avoid spreading any kind of unconfirmed or misleading information on social media.
The police has also clearly warned social media columns that strict legal action will be taken against them for spreading rumours or posting misleading posts.
Earlier on August 30, another statement mentioned that the relief amount announced by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami for the families affected by the disaster in Pauri Garhwal district has been distributed. The affected have expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister for this decision and called it a big relief in the hour of crisis.
Chief Minister Dhami had announced on the evening of August 26 that, apart from Dharali and Tharali, financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each would be provided to the owners of residential buildings completely damaged by the disaster in Pauri, as well as to the families of the deceased.