Police move to stop rumours over coronavirus
Covid-19 in Bangladesh
In the wake of fast-spreading rumours in the country over the coronavirus pandemic, law enforcing agencies have started working to prevent rumours that aggravate the situation by creating panic.
Law enforcers have already started taking action against people who spread rumours on social media sites like Facebook, YouTube etc. The police have increased cyber-surveillance in a bid to curb fake rumours over the coronavirus pandemic.
"The police and other law enforcing agencies are working against the spreading of false rumours," said Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Mohammad Javed Patwary on Sunday.
According to the law enforces agencies, they have detained more than 20 people from different places in the county and identified 50 more Facebook accounts and YouTube channels. Among them, seven have been found to be spreading rumours unintentionally and released after giving an undertaking.
On Saturday night, six people were detained from the capital's Ramna area. Three people from other areas in the capital, a youth from Cumilla, two youths from Feni, two people from Pirojpur, and two people from Chittagong have been detained by law enforcing agencies over the allegation of spreading rumours on social media.
Moreover, the police have already closed many Facebook accounts and removed many posts shared on social media. The police are counselling people who have spread rumours.
Nazmul Islam, an additional deputy commissioner of the counter-terrorism and transnational crime unit, told The Business Standard, "We have taken several measures to curb rumours. For instance, we are raising awareness among people to prevent rumours."
He went on to say that they were taking both the soft and hard approach models to tackle this problem.
"We will not spare anyone who spreads rumours. The police have already taken action against some accused. I urge people not to spread rumours," said Sohel Rana, assistant inspector general of police.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mahabubur Rahman said, "If anyone spreads rumour, the police will not let the person go."
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