india

Updated: Mar 28, 2020 08:03 IST

A 29-year-old woman was arrested by Kolkata Police’s cybercrime cell on Friday for allegedly posting fake news on social media and spreading rumours related to coronavirus outbreak in the city.

The woman had posted that a doctor got infected with coronavirus while treating patients in a state-run hospital. She had also uploaded a fake page of a Bengali newspaper.

“This is the first arrest made by the city police in connection with posting fake news and spreading rumours related to coronavirus,” said a senior official of the city police’s detective department.

The woman is a singer and an actor in a theatre group.

“That was fake news. The state health department had immediately lodged a complaint with the Kolkata Police. No doctor or any health worker in the state has been detected with the virus till date,” said a top official of the state health department.

Police have been initiated against her under section 66C of the informational technology act (punishment for identity theft) and relevant sections under the IPC for spreading fear.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the city police commissioner Anuj Sharma have been warning citizens not to post fake news on social media and refrain from spreading rumours.

A song written by the woman to spread awareness on coronavirus also has a line cautioning people not to pay attention to rumours and fake news.