COVID-19: Woman arrested in Bengal for posting fake news on social media

The police has arrested a woman from the city for allegedly posting fake news about a doctor working at a state-run hospital here.

The 29-year-old woman, on her social networking account, had said that the doctor working at Beliaghata ID Hospital was infected with COVID-19 while treating patients afflicted with the disease, a senior officer of Kolkata police said on Saturday.

She was arrested by the officers of the cyber crime cell of Kolkata police on Friday night. Without revealing the identity of the woman, the police officer said that the accused has been booked under the IT Act.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday had warned those who have been uploading fake news on the social media.

“My health secretary has forwarded the post to me where it was mentioned that a doctor treating Covid-19 patients has fallen sick. This is totally baseless. I have been saying that people having exposure to corona victims are most vulnerable, but the news is baseless. I have referred the matter to the detective department,” she said during a press briefing at the state secretariat.

Meanwhile, the police on Saturday morning arrested two persons from the Cossipore area for hoarding rice. “The two failed to give an appropriate reply to why they had stored rice. They are no businessmen and they don’t own any godown. Around 30 sacks of rice, weighing more than 300 kg, were found inside a room,” a policeman said.