The Haryana Police have arrested a man for a fake Facebook post claiming that two members of the Tablighi Jamaat had fled from a hospital. The arrested man has been identified as one Prateek Bhardwaj.
Speaking to Janta Ka Reporter, the Jagadhari city police in-charge Dinesh said that his team had arrested Prateek Bhardwaj for peddling fake news, adding that a case had also been registered against the man. Bhardwaj, who works for Mahindra motors as a salesman, was later granted bail.
The Yamunanagar Police had also tweeted about the incident as it wrote, “Accused Prateek Bhardwaj has been arrested for posting fake news on Facebook claiming that two members of the Tablighi Jamaat have fled from the hospital.”
जिला यमुनानगर में दो कोरोना संक्रमित तबलीगी के हॉस्पिटल से भागने की झूठी पोस्ट को फेसबुक पर डालने पर आरोपी प्रतीक भारद्वाज गिरफ्तार।
— Yamunanagar Police (@police_ynr) April 14, 2020
The strict action by the Haryana Police comes amidst a campaign launched by the Indian TV channels to vilify the Muslim community by peddling fake news about the Tablighi Jamaat. The Uttar Pradesh Police and the publicity department of the Arunachal Pradesh government recently called out the fake news of Zee News and news agency ANI.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had recently earned plaudits for his commendable stand on the Tablighi Jamaat saying that it was wrong to blame the religious sect since this was a regular event. He had, however, urged those who attended the event in the Nizamuddin Markaz to come forward and test themselves for coronavirus.