Soro/Bhanjanagar: A day after DGP RP Sharma rubbished rumours of child-lifting gangs operating in the state and called upon the people “not to believe in fake viral videos” on social media sites, three persons, including a woman, were victims of child-lifting rumours in different parts of the state Monday.

A woman suspected of being a ‘child-lifter’ was thrashed black and blue at Balang Square on Soro-Anandapur road in Balasore district Monday.

A video of the woman being beaten up and stripped has already become viral on Whatsapp. Police reached the spot and rescued the victim and admitted her to a nearby hospital for treatment.

In Bhanjanagar, a group of commuters detained a man over the former’s suspicious movements near Kainphulia Square in Aska of Ganjam district Monday. The angry mob thrashed the man, who was later rescued by Aska police that reached the spot on being informed about the incident.

“After preliminary investigation, the detainee has been found to be a deranged person. He is not associated with child-lifting gang in any manner,” informed Santosh Kumar Jena, IIC, Aska police station.

In a similar incident, residents of Jahniapada village near Tudigadia under Khaira police limits in Balasore district detained a beggar boy after suspecting him to be a child-lifter. They tied him to a pole in the village and meted out inhumane torture.

The victim was released following intervention by Khaira police.

It is worth mentioning here that DGP RP Sharma had Sunday requested people to verify and report any suspicious person to the local police instead of taking the law into their hands. He was reacting to a viral video claiming that child theft gangs from neighbouring Bihar have arrived in the state to kidnap children. A kidney and eye theft racket was involved in the act, the video claimed.

According to the widely-circulated video, miscreants extracted the eyes and kidneys of children and sold them at a premium. As reports of people thrashing strangers poured in from different parts of the state Monday, the DGM made it clear at a press meet that no such gangs were under the police scanner. The news that gangs arrived from the neighbouring states was totally false.

A day ago, incidents of mob attacks in which at least 12-15 innocents mistaken as child-lifters were reported from Ganjam, Rayagada and Nayagarh districts. The DGP has, meanwhile, directed superintendents of police in all districts to remain alert and take stern actions against the rumour-mongers.