Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Maharashtra Cyber Police has registered 113 cases against people who spread fake news and hate speech in the state so far during the lockdown period.
At least 13 First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered in the last 24 hours, informed a press release of Maharashtra Cyber. A total of 15 offences were registered by Beed police, followed by 11 by Pune Rural, nine by Mumbai, seven each at Satara and Jalgaon, six at Nasik rural, four each at Nagpur city, Nasik city, Thane City, Nanded, three each at Gondia, Bhandara Ratnagiri, Jalna, two each at Parbhani, Amravati, Nandaurbar and one each at Navi Mumbai and Latur.
In Beed district, the accused have circulated social media posts on WhatsApp and Fecebook to damage communal harmony. An offence was registered at Shivaji Ngar police station in the district recently for posting a derogatory message against a community on Facebook.
Superintendent of Police, Maharashtra Cyber, Dr. Balsingh Rajput said, “We are taking very stringent action those who are sending fake messages and spreading hatred in community. “These people would be dealt with an iron hand and no such attempt to dividing community would be tolerated,” SP Dr. Rajput said.
Another official said that many individuals have been trying to con people during the period by luring them with fake messages. For instance, various messages were circulated by fraudsters about fake recharges and government benefits for those who have been rendered unemployed by the lockdown.
It may be mentioned that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has recently instructed State police and Maharashtra Cyber to initiate stringent action against rumour-mongers so that people are not mislead.
Maharashtra government had also come out with an advisory regarding fake news and rumours related to Covid-19 pandemic. This advisory elaborated on some dos and don'ts, including the consequences of spreading fake news.
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