Mumbai police busy countering rumours

MUMBAI: At a time when the city police is struggling to combat rumour-mongering, the cops averted another situation in south Mumbai by taking action immediately. A religious poster, put up by a group of people at the Bhendi Bazar junction, was noticed to be missing. A crowd gathered and demanded it was either torn out or removed by some anti social elements. Messages began circulating on Whatsapp and tension prevailed for an hour on Monday night.
Pydhonie police stepped in and took action and dispersed the mob.
Had the police delayed action the rumor mongers would have taken advantage of it, feel observers.
“There was no inflammatory content in the WhatsApp messages but the news of a religious poster being torn is enough to create panic and rumour. We are verifying the facts whether the poster was torn out or removed by some people,” said police.
The city police feel countering rumours on WhatsApp is the biggest challenge for them today. “We want to break the chain. There are some people who send bulk messages and create a law and order problem. Today most of the people have messenger services on their mobile phones and some anti-social elements circulate rumours. However, we are working on this and will surely arrest the culprits. We want to arrest people for this,” said Rakesh Maria, city police commissioner.
"Tension at Lalbag on January 4 this year was an example of rumours being circulated through WhatsApp. People shut their shops, returned home early thinking there was some riot. While we tactfully handled the situation, we are still fighting the rumours on a daily basis,” said a senior police officer. The police are also taking help from Social Media Lab and the cyber crime and investigation cell (CCIC) to trace the origin of these rumors. Maulana Moin Miya Ashraf, a religious leader, said that everything has positive and negative impact. “Everyone should verify any news before circulating it. We should not allow anyone to harm the peace of the city.”