Patiala Police Warns Of Strict Action Against Rumour Mongers And Persons Attacking Health Workers/ Police Men

Patiala : Whereas the Patiala district administration is making all out efforts to contain the spread of the CoVid-19 in the district, certain anti-social elements are leaving no stone unturned to spread all sorts of rumours on social media (including whatsapp, facebook, twitter, intagram and so on) with the sole objective of creating panic in the society and discouraging the frontline Corona warriors in their fight against the pandemic.Stating this here today, SSP Patiala, Vikram Jeet Duggal said when the entire government machinery is working 24×7 and making all efforts to keep the society safe from the virus, a few notorious elements have been observed to be spreading rumours even against the testing being conducted by the health officials in the containment/ micro-containment zones.”Further, certain individuals are even provoking the local people to manhandle the health staff and police officials. This is totally uncalled for and requires strict action as per law,” he added.
Issuing stern warning to all individuals who tend to take law into their own hands and resorting to the malign campaigns against the government efforts to contain the spread of the Covid-19, SSP Mr. Duggal said that they would be booked under various relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Diseases Act.Giving the details of action taken against such elements, he said that District Police had registered 6 FIRs for spreading false rumours regarding COVID and 1 FIR for attack on Doctors etc and 5 persons have been arrested in the above FIRs, so far .He said that Government of Punjab is committed to prevent the spread and transmission of the COVID-19 virus and saving innocent lives by all means. Therefore, District Police seeks cooperation from all sections of the society to join hands with us in our fight against the pandemic on one hand and rumour mongering on the other. He said that any information can be given through our whatsapp portal (96468-00112) for any input on such rumour mongers. Similarly, any clarification about any issue with regard to COVID-19 may be sought through the helpline numbers 0175-2350550 and 62843-57500.