Warning that stringent action will be initiated against those who spread rumors on Covid-19, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan on Thursday said that sharing of unverified, misleading, malicious information on social media would invite action under relevant provisions of Indian Penal Code, Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Diseases Act.

“Do not forward Covid related messages without verifying. We are monitoring such posts on social media.

Legal action will be taken against those who spread false news,” said Dayalan adding that “action would be taken against all WhatsApp Admins who share unverified, misleading COVID-19 information.

“Rumors spread fast on social media, leading to unwanted panic among the people. So, our cyber cell sleuths are up on guard. We have stepped up online surveillance to identify senders of such fake news, frivolous, unfounded COVID-19 related messages and other content,” he added.

Dayalan informed that an FIR has been registered against the unknown miscreants who had made a malicious audio clip to lower the confidence of public in the medical facilities at Mohali Civil Hospital.

Whereas the Administration is making all out efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the district, certain anti-social elements are spreading all sorts of rumors on social media including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others. “This not just creates panic in the society but is also extremely discouraging for the frontline corona warriors,” said the Deputy Commissioner.

He said that the entire government machinery is working 24X7 and making all out efforts to keep people safe from the virus but a few bad elements are hampering the process by posting and sharing unfounded messages.

“None would be allowed to sabotage our pandemic control efforts; we will take sternest action in the book against the miscreants”, said Dayalan.

Meanwhile, he also made an appeal to the people not to fall prey to rumors and fake news.