The police has discovered that a picture of a victim that was ciriculated on WhatsApp turned out to be that of a youth who was involved in a road accident.

For some hours of the night of 4 January, central Mumbai and the rest of the city was tense as rumours swirled of a communal clash between two groups. Police now say that some persons were purposely trying to stoke tempers by circulating a fake image and video of a riot and its victim on instant messaging applications like WhatsApp.

According to the Mumbai Police Chief Rakesh Maria, who visited the site of the clash to cool tempers and ensure law and order, they have now discovered that some people were purposely circulating the fake images and they will be taking the assistance of central intelligence agencies to track them down.

The police has discovered that a picture of a victim that was ciriculated on WhatsApp turned out to be that of a youth who was involved in a road accident on the morning of 4 January while an alleged video of the riot turned out to be an edited version of a video shot in Karnataka, Maria was quoted as saying in an Indian Express report.

"All these aspects suggest a conspiracy and planning...Strict action will be taken against anyone that we find out to be part of the forwarding chain,” Maria was quoted as saying in the report.

According to police officials, the tension in the area was sparked off by a rashly driven motorbike brushing against a woman near the Lalbaug area on Sunday evening. Angry locals then roughed up the biker. A few hours later, a group of bikers who were driving on the wrong side of road were attacked by a mob near the Bharatmata cinema junction in Lalbaug.

The mob assaulted bikers, who had been part of the Eid E Milad procession, identifying them by their clothing or skull caps, police officials said. A motorcycle was burnt in the violence and nine persons were injured.

While senior police officials went to the spot, the police also said that its social media lab and cyber cell had sent warnings to people found to be spreading rumours. The police also sent out text messages to people appealing to them to disregard rumours.

The state minority commissioner has already alleged the attack was a planned one to instill fear among the minority community and to disturb the law and order situation in the state. Why it's believable is because of the way instant messaging services like WhatsApp have been used in the past, like the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots or even in the Trilokpuri riots in Delhi of 2014.

In the case of the Trilokpuri riots, the Delhi police even created a WhatsApp group so that residents could inform them of any incidents that could cause communal tension.

However, as the previous incidents show communal tensions are often sparked and fanned through instant messaging like WhatsApp. But as the Mumbai and Delhi Police have shown, other police forces will also have to be equipped to deal with similar situations in the future that can erupt with disastrous consequences.