A former block panchayat member urged people to defy government instructions and another youth spread message about fake ‘aerial vaccine’

Bedakom Police have registered a case against a former block panchayat member for circulating false information and making derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister and Chief Minister.

The police registered a case against O.V. Vijayan, a resident of Malamkund in Bandadka and a former block panchayat member. A case under section IPC 269, 188 and 118(E) Kerala Police Act has been registered against him, based on a complaint filed by E. Madhusudhan Nair.

Bedakom Station House Officer T. Uthamdas said the voice message which went viral on WhatsApp appealed to the people to neglect the government’s instruction to stop the spread of coronavirus and questioned the efforts of the health department to curtail the disease.

“The message urged people to boycott the call for Janata Curfew by the Prime Minister and also misguided them by giving false information against the government instructions to curb the spread of coronavirus,” he said.

Mr. Uthamdas said stringent action would be taken and non-bailable cases would be registered against those who try to spread false information and also refuse to follow orders issued by the government, district administration and police.

In Kannur, police arrested a youth for circulating false information through social media that a vaccine would be sprayed aerially to contain coronavirus outbreak in the district.

The accused, Shani Sharif, from Muzhappilangad, was arrested near Edakkad. He was arrested based on the complaint registered by the District Medical Officer Narayana Nayak to the District Police Chief Yathish Chandra.

In his complaint, the DMO said that a voice message stating that a ‘poisonous methyl-based’ vaccine would be sprayed using helicopter over the district to kill coronavirus was circulating on WhatsApp. He requested to take necessary action against those spreading such false information.

Police said he sent the voice message to several people and later tried to delete the evidence from his mobile phone, and claimed he received the message from elsewhere. Police is trying to find the adminstrator of the WhatsApp group, who circulated the message.

However, a case under Kerala Police Act 118(B), 120(o), and IPC 505 1(B), has been charged against Shani Sharif.