The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Wednesday evening that its Twitter account has been "compromised" and it was taking necessary steps to rectify the issue.

According to sources, it was observed that certain tweets criticising the government were "liked" from the ICMR's official Twitter handle. The matter was brought to the notice of ICMR officials by some Twitter users, they said.

"ICMR has observed that the Twitter account of the organisation has been compromised. We are taking necessary steps to rectify the same. We apologise for any inconvenience caused due to this situation," the apex health research body said in a tweet.

The ICMR has removed its likes on the tweets in question.