Trichy: Days after rumours on child-lifting were circulated in Ariyalur district, miscreants have managed to spread false warnings on social media about the presence of a child-lifting gang in neighbouring Perambalur district. On Thursday morning, a couple of migrant youths who worked in the construction sector were rescued by Perambalur police after villagers secured the duo mistaking them for child-lifters.

Police sources said that the youths, in their twenties, were roaming around Palayam village on the outskirts of Perambalur town on Thursday morning. With social media platforms including WhatsApp and facebook agog with rumours on child-lifting gangs active in Ariyalur, the locals of Palayam suspected the duo to be child-lifters. They detained the two youths and since they could not converse in Tamil, the villagers alerted the local police. However, the police let off the duo after they found them to be migrant workers. A police source said that the incident was the second of its kind in the district. Earlier last week, police said that a call was received about an alleged child-lifter in Perambalur town but people did not secure the ‘suspect’ .

“Without verifying the authenticity of the information on social networks, the public randomly share the false information on child-lifting. This unhealthy activity builds hostile environment for non-native labourers,” a police source said. When contacted, Perambalur police station sources said that such rumours were active only in neighbouring Ariyalur district and not much in Perambalur.

Police however acknowledged that such rumours have been reaching Perambalur villages and urged the public to inform Perambalur police on the mobile number 94981-00692 on incidents related to child-lifting. It may be noted that TOI had carried a report about rumours on child-lifting being active in Ariyalur villages in the wake of such rumours leading to the lynching of three persons in Tiruvannamalai district in May. In Ariyialur, police have urged local people to alert the special branch over phone (04329-222106) regarding child-lifting.

