Hyderabad: In a blatant attempt to incite trouble, a Twitter account, Faizan-E-Madina, which goes by the handle @Faiza-neMadina and is reportedly based in Pakistan, shared two pictures claiming that they were of purported ‘communal violence’ in Telangana state.
The police moved quickly to quash the fake news, with DGP M. Mahender Reddy stating that the tweet was put out with an intention to create fear in the minds of the people. Mr Reddy said anyone found forwarding such fake messages in order to create instability and disharmony would face criminal charges.
The tweet claimed that “many Muslims houses” were burnt by the “RSS terrorist” and that MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi was injured. Hyderabad police chief Anjani Kumar debun-ked the tweet as ‘fake.”
Police said the Pakistani influencer, with a following of 16,900, lifted old pictures from magazines and tried to portray it as the current situation in Telangana state.
“All the above images and news are false and fabricated. A Hyderabad based fact-checking organisation named Factly has debunked the images and traced their origin. The pictures were originally from Mangaluru and the protest was following the Unnao rape case in UP,” the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police said.
The Twitter handle @FaizaneMadina shows the location as Pakistan and the blogspot attached to it shows it is based in Karachi.
One of the pictures shows security forces passing by a burning bike and another is from a rally by youth in saffron attire with swords in their hands. The tweet read “Breaking: RSS terrorist attacked Muslim village in Telangana, India. Many Muslim houses were burnt and many muslims injured, Reports of Asaduddin Owai-si also got injured (sic).”
Mr Anjani Kumar posted on Twitter: “No such incident took place anywhere in Hyderabad city or in Telangana state. The post is a fake and fabricated one.”
The Cyberabad police said: “All the above images and news are false and fabricated. Sharing this type of hatred messages is liable to be punished. Clarified that this type of incident did not happen” in the state.
The fact-checker ‘Factly’ used reverse image search to find that the pictures of the rally was uploaded by Reuters in April 2017, with a description, “ Hindu Yuva Vahini vigilante members take part in a rally in the city of Unnao”.
The image of the burning bike was lifted from a news magazine in December 2006 when two persons were killed in clashes in Mangaluru and adjoining areas.
Saying that the message was posted to create fear in the minds of the people and to destabilise communal harmony, DGP Mahendar Reddy said, “Do not believe in such fake messages. Before forwarding please verify the source and authenticity of the message. If you still have doubts about the message please inform the police immediately and do not forward it blindly.”
