SAMBALPUR : In a follow up action against those sharing inflammatory messages on social media in light of the recent incident of violence following the bike rally on April 12 and Hanuman Jayanti procession on April 14, Sambalpur police detained as many as 16 persons including two chat group admins of Whatsapp.
They were warned to stop circulating rumours and hateful messages on social media and released after signing undertaking.
Briefing media persons on Saturday, Sambalpur superintendent of police (SP), B. Gangadhar said, following the violence a Social Media Monitoring Cell was formed which is thoroughly monitoring the activities across all social media platforms, especially Whatsapp.
“Those found sharing fake information or hateful messages were questioned and warned not to share objectionable and inflammatory messages on social media,” the SP added. Similarly, we also warned the admin of two WhatsApp groups for allowing other members to share inflammatory messages. They were released after signing PR bonds, the Gangadhar further informed.
Appealing people to use social media responsibly and refrain from spreading hateful messages or rumours on social media, the SP said the exercise to identify such inciting content will continue.
“Normalcy is gradually returning to the city. We have already lifted curfew from four police station areas out of the six areas. Currently, the night curfew is force in the remaining two police stations, but we will lift the curfew from these two areas shortly after assessing the situation,” he added.
Investigation into both the incidents is underway. As many as 46 people have been arrested in connection with the violence on April 12 violence and 56 people for their involvement in April 14 incident.
Reportedly, Sambalpur witnessed a complete shutdown of internet on April 13, to curb circulation of inflammatory messages, following violence during a bike rally on April 12 evening ahead of the Hanuman Jayanti.