Belagavi Police have urged people not to believe in rumours of child kidnappers going around in villages.
Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Patil has also warned that legal action will be taken against those sharing such messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
Some fake news items have been circulating on the social media. They are baseless and unverified.
They show images of some people trying to lift children. They are unrelated images, of different places at different times and not at all related to such offences. In some cases, for example, there are pictures of carpet sellers and door-to-door salesman.
This has had an undesirable effect. It has spread panic among residents of some villages and towns. In some places, people may have taken the law into their hands. This is not advisable. People have to approach the police whenever such issues arise or when they suspect someone of wrong doing and get them confirmed, Dr. Patil said.
Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (Bheemavada) members met the Superintendent of Police to ask him to issue a clarification about some misleading videos. Some people are sharing videos that show kidnappers taking out body parts of young children and selling them. Parents are terrified about them. The police should take action against those who spread such false news, they said.
Ravi Bastawadkar, Sidrayi Metri, Kallappa Ramachannanavar, Parashuram Neelanayak and others were present.
