The Jharkhand Police headquarters in Ranchi has sounded an alert across the State after a man was lynched and another beaten brutally in Gumla on suspicion of deliberately spreading coronavirus among locals, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, police said, was triggered by rumours about members of a particular community visiting different villages and spitting on people to spread the virus. The rumours, they added, were spread on social media platforms. "We have asked all the SPs (Superintendents of Police) to deal with all such matters with an iron fist. Any person found spreading rumours, triggering violence or fanning communal tension will be put behind the bars," said Additional Director General (ADG) of police, ML Meena.
On the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, an infuriated mob caught hold of a youth in Basia locality of Gumla and thrashed him suspecting that he was among the ones spreading the virus. He later succumbed to his injury. Another man from Kudru village was also beaten up on the suspicion of spreading COVID-19 virus, police said. He was undergoing treatment at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi at the time this report was filed.
Meena said that security personnel were deployed across the affected area on Wednesday to prevent the incidents from snowballing into a communal conflagration. "The situation is tense, but under control. We have deployed sufficient forces in the area. Meetings with peace committees will also be held," he said. Videos showing a particular community in bad light have been doing the rounds on WhatsApp since the Tablighi Jamaat imbroglio came to light. According to figures shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, more than 35 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases reported in India have links with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in New Delhi. This finding, sources said, has led to large-scale mobilization of people on social media against a particular community.
In the wake of the incidents, police here have put all social media platforms here under scanner. Any person found misusing social media to spread communal hatred will be found and sent to jail, police said. "We are keeping an eye on all social media activities across the State. You will invite trouble even if you circulate communally-sensitive content," Meena said. By now, four positive cases of Coronavirus have been reported in Jharkhand. While only one of them had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi, at least three of the four patients belong to a particular community. Hindpiri, a locality dominated by the minority community in Ranchi, has been sealed after both the COVID-19 positive cases of the State capital were reported from this area.
