Tribal outfits hit streets to enforce Ranchi bandh, admin on alert
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Ranchi (PTI): Activists of various tribal outfits hit the streets on Saturday morning to enforce an 18-hour bandh in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi to protest against the construction of a flyover near the Sarna Sthal, a sacred tribal religious site.
The protestors were seen burning tyres and blocking roads, mainly on the outskirts of Ranchi.
The Ranchi-Lohardaga road was blocked near Titla Chowk in Ranchi, while agitators gathered at the city's Kanke Chowk and other areas to impose the bandh.
Compared to other days, the number of vehicles on the roads in Ranchi was less during the morning hours.
The protestors are demanding the removal of a ramp being built in Siram Toli, claiming that it obstructs access to the religious site and could disturb its sanctity due to frequent traffic movements.
Several tribal organisations took out a torchlight procession on Friday evening, seeking people's support for the bandh.
The protestors alleged that the government ignored their concerns.
They said when thousands of tribals gather at Siram Toli Sarna Sthal during Sarhul, the most significant tribal festival, the flyover ramp would disrupt access to the site.
In view of the bandh call, the Ranchi police have made elaborate security arrangements.
The administration has urged the organisations to hold the protest peacefully without causing trouble to anyone.
The district administration has issued strict instructions, stating that anyone in support of the bandh or chakka jam should not cause any disruption or obstruction to the traffic, dignitaries, students, members of educational institutions, or the general public, the Ranchi administration said in a statement.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
