Meghalaya Govt Files FIR Against 'Fake News' Peddlers

Shillong, August 25, 2019:

In the latest incident of crackdown against fake news, the South West Garo Hills district administration in Meghalaya has decided to file an FIR against some rumour mongers who have spread fake news about 6,000 people, including children, of the Mahendraganj area under Zikzak block, being afflicted with a contagious skin disease.

The South West Garo Hills District Commissioner Ram Kumar S said that the report is false and action will be taken against the rumour mongers. Several media houses on Friday received a mail which said that about 6,000 people, including children, men and women of all ages, pregnant women and lactating mothers are afflicted with the multiple featured skin disease.

It also stated that government health schemes are not reaching the people of the area, which is in the Indo-Bangladesh border. The report also stated that Sabnam Mohan Raj, Director Vasu and NGO can be contacted for more information.

However, Ramkumar said that he had a discussion with Sabnam Mohanraj and she clarified that there was no such outbreak of the disease.

According to Ramkumar, the government has a medical team in Mahendraganj which conducts medical team in Mahendraganj which conducts medical checkup and there is no increase in skin-related diseases.

A senior Meghalaya police official told Inside Northeast that the Meghalaya Police Department is highly vigilant in regards to the peddling of fake news on social media. "Soon, we are going to have a workshop which will be conducted by some very specialized people from outside and they will teach the Meghalaya authorities how to deal with the threat of fake news", he added.

Join us as we continue the awareness campaign to preserve the only Ramsar site in Assam which is facing immense threats (A Ramsar Site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention). We need your help to preserve this site of great ecological importance. Join the #LetsSaveDeeporBeel campaign and tweet about it, and do tag us on Twitter. It is time to create awareness.

Download:

The Inside Northeast app HERE for News, Views, and Reviews from Northeast India.

Do keep following us for news on-the-go. We deliver the Northeast