The Jharkhand Government has directed police to lodge a case after a fake screenshot of Chief Minister Hemant Soren's official Twitter handle announcing lockdown was shared. On Saturday, a fake screenshot from Chief Minister’s Hemant Soren twitter handle was shared in social media platforms announcing lockdown in state as the threat of Omicron virus spread globally.
The Twitter post which was being circulated on social media claimed that a lockdown in Jharkhand will be again imposed from 6 December 2021. The post also claimed that the lockdown will be imposed till January 1, 2022, during which schools, colleges, and educational institutes will remain closed and all examinations will be canceled and E-PASS will be required to go out of the house.
Minutes after fake screenshot from CM’s twitter handle circulated, Chief Minister’s office jumped tweeting that no decision regarding a lockdown had been taken yet by the state government.
The chief minister’s office in a fresh Twitter post clarified that no such decision on COVID lockdown has been taken by the state government.
Taking to Twitter, Hemant Soren's office said, "This screenshot of HonRs ble CM Hemant SorenRs s Twitter account in circulation is a fake post. It is REITERATED that no such decision on COVID-19 Lockdown has been taken by the State Government. Jharkhand Police is instructed to file FIR, identify the miscreants and take action."A senior police officer requesting anonymity said, “Prima facie it appears to be a case of handiwork of some nuisance element who wants to create confusion and fear in the minds of people. We have asked the IT cell to trace the origin of such fake tweets.”
As the threat of Omicron variant of corona virus spreads across the Country, there is also rumour about the disease. Rumors of lockdown related restrictions have also spread in Karnataka. Recently, denying any possible lockdown amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in some educational institutions and the detection of the new strain Omicron, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today made it clear that there was no proposal to impose lockdown in the state.
Delhi Sunday reported its first case of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that a man, of Indian origin, had come to Delhi from Tanzania a few days ago and tested positive for Covid-19 with the Omicron variant. So far, India has detected a total of five Omicron cases — one in Maharashtra, one in Gujarat, and two in Karnataka, apart from the new case in Delhi.
