Delhi protests: Pak-linked handles under probe for fake claims of police firing

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police is investigating social media handles allegedly spreading rumours and inflammatory content during protests demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation in the national capital. The probe has traced the IP address of at least one suspicious handle to Pakistan, police said on Wednesday.

Sanjay Bhatia, Additional Commissioner of Police in the Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit said that false claims about police action against demonstrators were circulated online to create panic and provoke unrest. The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit has a dedicated cyber patrolling team to monitor such content and verify its authenticity, Bhatia told ANI, outlining the police's response to misleading posts.

"Delhi Police’s IFSO unit has a dedicated cyber patrolling team that monitors such posts to verify their authenticity and compliance with legal provisions. If we find a post to be factually incorrect, false, a rumor, a threat to public order, defamatory, or likely to incite anarchy, we take action in accordance with the law," he said.

Bhatia said the investigation into the Pakistan-linked account was ongoing, along with other cases registered over social media content. "When we sought registration details for one such specific handle, the IP address traced back to Pakistan; we are currently investigating that case. The process is ongoing, and we have registered other cases as well; investigations are underway, and we will share further details and evidence with you as they emerge," he said.

Giving details of a post that allegedly claimed police were firing at demonstrators, Bhatia said the claim was false and could have heightened tensions. "We found a post intended to incite chaos; the handle registered in Pakistan." He further claimed that the handle alleged that the police were opening fire on the demonstrators. "It was a deliberate attempt to whip up a volatile atmosphere based on falsehoods. Since the claim was untrue, we immediately requested the post's removal and registered a case; further action is underway," he said.

The Delhi Police had also recently debunked a viral social media video claiming that Rahul Gandhi's residence had come under attack and that gunfire had been reported. According to the police, the footage was from December 2019 and was unrelated to current events. The police said legal action was being initiated against accounts sharing the misleading content and urged users not to circulate unverified videos.

The investigation comes amid police action against three Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists over alleged attempts to disturb public peace and instigate others through social media. Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were remanded to five days of judicial custody, while Ajinkya Shinde was bound down for six months to maintain peace and good behaviour. According to a Delhi Police statement, the action followed an incident on October 13 in which the three activists and 11 other CJP members allegedly entered the denotified Jantar Mantar protest site through private premises and obstructed police personnel. CJP has maintained that it will continue to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and challenge the denotification of Jantar Mantar.