Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday said that action will be taken against those creating panic by spreading rumours of army deployment in Mumbai and Pune.

Mr. Deshmukh on Thursday clarified that this is wholly and completely fake news. “First of all I want to underline that as the Home Minister I am fully confident of the Maharashtra Police's wherewithal and capabilities in tackling any emergent situation. I exhort citizens not to believe such messages or share/forward them as this unnecessarily compounds panic in society. The Maharashtra government is committed in its battle with COVID-19 and has been open in its communication with citizens on policy decisions with regard to combatting the pandemic,” he said.

“The spread of such rumours can attract penalties and punishment under the provisions of both the IT Act and the IPC. The Maharashtra Cyber Department is actually looking closely at this issue and has alreay initiated action against the rumour mongers,” he warned.

An enquiry by the State Cyber Department found that 12 main user IDs on various social media platforms have been spreading this roumour from May 8. Notices in the the form of a legal warning under CrPC Sec 149 have been issued to thses users. The social media platforms have also been asked to take down these posts and suspend the accounts of msicreants who have been identified.

Mr. Deshmukh said that there has been concerted campaign by miscreants to create fake news/rumours across various social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, etc to create panic and dissatisfaction among people. “One of the more worrying rumours that has been spread even while India is in the grip of one of its worst public health emergencies due to the Corona Pandemic is the about a complete lockdown of Mumbai and other cities to be enforced by deploying the army,” he said.

The messages also asked people to hoard maximum provisions like vegetables, grocery and milk for this period.