News agency ANI has been facing intense social media roasting after it claimed on Tuesday night that police in Noida had quarantined a group of people in Sector 5 Harola since they allegedly came in contact with the Tablighi Jamaat. However, the Noida Police wasted no time in declaring that the said news item flashed by the ANI was fake.
The official Twitter handle of ANI UP had sensationally claimed on the microblogging site, “Those in Sector 5 Harola, Noida, who came in contact with Tablighi Jamaat members have been quarantined: Sankalp Sharma, Gautam Budh Nagar (DCP) #COVID19.”
Those in Sector 5 Harola, Noida, who came in contact with Tablighi Jamaat members have been quarantined: Sankalp Sharma, Gautam Budh Nagar (DCP) #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/O8Ued1d4jH
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 7, 2020
Quoting the tweet, ANI boss Smita Prakash tweeted, “Be safe Noida.”
However, the DCP-rank officer of the Noida Police quoted in the ANI flash publicly contradicted the news agency’s claim and termed it ‘fake news.’ The tweet by DCP Noida read, “@ANINewsUP people who had come in contact with the positive case were quarantined as per laid procedure. There was no mention of Tabligh Jamat. You are misquoting and spreading fake news. @noidapolice @Uppolice.”
@ANINewsUP people who had come in contact with the positive case were quarantined as per laid procedure.
There was no mention of Tabligh Jamat. You are misquoting and spreading fake news@noidapolice @Uppolicehttps://t.co/HwIM5Cr7K3— DCP_Noida (@DCP_Noida) April 7, 2020
The public rebuttal by DCP Noida was also retweeted by the official Twitter handle of the Police Commissionerate Noida.
Soon, ANI began to face brutal social media roasting with many demanding strict action for spreading fake news. Curiously, the tweet posted by ANI UP remained live on its page for more than four hours even after the DCP Noida declared it fake.
Have some shame.. Apologize
— Yashovardhan Ojha (@ya5ho_) April 7, 2020
@Reuters Your Indian affiliate spreading fake news to communalise a pandemic.
cc: @sjhasker @stephenjadler @ReutersPR@USCIRF @hrw @HouseForeignhttps://t.co/7iOu29dwtQ
— Sidrah (@SidrahDP) April 7, 2020
Thanks for calling out @ANI‘s propaganda. But @ANI is so used to adding ‘Tabligh Jamath’ in their tweets from a few days. https://t.co/1LRJt71JSc
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 7, 2020
So this Tablighi Jamat has become like chat masala..just add it to spice it up eh?? It’s called out as fake news? And still this @ANI is a premier news agency?https://t.co/tmzZkw4vQ5
— Ved Nayak ವೇದ್ ನಾಯಕ್ وید نائک (@catcheronthesly) April 7, 2020
Faced with widespread condemnation, the ANI UP Twitter handle deleted its fake tweet and issued a clarification.
It, however, did not delete another tweet, which too had made similar fake claims on Tablighi Jamaat.
On Monday, the Firozabad Police in Uttar Pradesh had forced Zee Media to delete its tweet, which falsely claimed that a group of Tablighi Jamaat members had pelted stones when the medical team arrived to pick them up.
Earlier, the Saharanpur Police in Uttar Pradesh had exposed Indian media outlets for claiming that members of the Tablighi Jamaat had demanded non-veg food in quarantine and caused a ruckus when their demands were not met. The Sarahanpur Police had issued a detailed statement terming the claim as fake news.
Ever since the Delhi Police evacuated members of the Tablighi Jamaat from the Nizamuddin Markaz, the usual suspects in the Indian media have been consistently running a motivated campaign against India’s Muslim community. Some had claimed that Jamaatis spat on doctors and police while others accused them of misbehaving with nurses.
However, a woman claiming to be a medical officer, who was a part of the team that evacuated the Nizamuddin Markaz, had revealed that no one had misbehaved with them.