Following complaints from health workers and local administrators, the police have launched a probe into a few suspected incidents in which fake information about reasons behind the spread of Nipah were circulated on social media. People who shared the unscientific claims by quacks and self-proclaimed traditional healers are also under scanner.
According to police sources, there are many suspected social media users who recently deleted controversial posts noticing the probe launched across the State. However, they will not be able to escape from legal action considering the stringent instructions earlier issued by the Health department and the district administration.
“So far we have recorded the arrest of a Koyilandy native who said that Nipah was a fake creation. His claim that it was created for the commercial benefit of pharmaceutical companies had misled many social media users,” said a police officer who was part of the investigation. He also confirmed that the man was sharing the unscientific statement of a self-styled naturopathy practitioner who had been booked several times for such irresponsible observations.
The suspects are still at large in two other major complaints in which fake voice and text messages were created and circulated about Nipah infection and containment zones to create fear in society. One of the fake message creators had used the name of two Corporation councillors to endorse the fake claims that there were new containment zones around Chevarambalam.
“Many local residents were dragged into a confused state with the circulation of that fake message carrying details of an imaginary containment zone. There were queries from multiple locations as it was the first such development in the city limits,” said a Health worker from Chevarambalam. He said the councillors were in a situation to approach the police to prevent the circulation of the fake information through WhatsApp and Facebook.
Doctors who fought in the forefront against Nipah were also not spared by these fake message creators. Anonymous persons behind the creation of one such message had misled many by circulating a fake voice message that several doctors in a private hospital in the city were suspected of contracting Nipah and the details were withheld from the public. The hospital management was in a situation to approach the police for tracking the source.
“Amidst the intensified vigil, there were also reported incidents where a few were suspected of violating containment zone regulations. We are tracking such violations for stern action,” said a police officer from Nadapuram. Legal action would be initiated against a couple from Nadapuram, who was previously identified as the critical contacts of one of the Nipah victims, for leaving the containment zone without permission, he said.
