Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police on Monday arrested two persons for allegedly spreading misleading information about Covid-19 management in the capital city of Odisha.
The two were arrested after an audio clip of the conversation between two persons was circulated and broadcast on a private regional news channel accusing Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) of COVID-19 mismanagement.
The two arrested are Biswajit Mohanty and Laxmikanta Behera.
The police swung into action after the BMC lodged a complaint against the news channel accusing it of spreading misinformation related to Covid-19.
“On examination and prima facie investigation, it has been found that the audio recording has been prepared, circulated, edited, uploaded and propagated, with mala fide and mischievous intention as the clip contains misleading and false information about COVID pandemic,” said a statement issued by Bhubaneswar Additional DCP.
“The mischievous conversation is trying to make others falsely believe that there are corona positive reports, persons are being shifted to hospital falsely showing them positive and there is a certain target for the number of patients to be fetched by hospitals, etc. This goes against the guidelines related to the management of the present disaster and violates many legal provisions, thus attracting criminal action,” it added.
The Commissionerate Police said further investigation is underway and some other persons have been summoned in this regard.
