As the BJP took up the matter following the report, the Bihar government on Saturday sent a team to Tamil Nadu to take stock, and Jharkhand said it would do so.
In separate complaints, Prashant Umrao, a BJP spokesperson who also serves as a standing counsel in the Supreme Court for the Goa government, was booked along with Mohammad Tanveer, editor of Dainik Bhaskar and a small-time journalist from Bihar. it was done. A top police officer said three separate teams have been formed to arrest him.
A statement issued by the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said that all North Indian workers in Tamil Nadu are living peacefully in the state.
The alleged claims of the three accused about north Indian workers coincided with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s birthday celebrations on Wednesday, which attracted several opposition leaders, including Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, and called for a united front against Gaya BJP.
Umrao, who has a large number of followers on Twitter, reportedly tweeted the day after the rally that 12 workers from Bihar were “hanged” in Tamil Nadu for speaking Hindi, and compared it to a picture of Tejashwi with Stalin. Posted with picture. Police claim that journalists also spread rumors on the same day.
All three have been booked under IPC sections dealing with offenses relating to promoting enmity and disharmony between different groups.
The police officer cited above said the police were gathering information about others spreading false rumors “to create distress and panic” among migrant labourers.
The official said: “A day after a DMK rally attended by several prominent north Indian leaders, the rumors started. It seems that first a news related to this appeared on Dainik Bhaskar’s website. This was not published in their print edition but our preliminary investigation indicates that this was the trigger. Soon after, Tanveer posted a series of tweets with false stories on attacks by Tamils on North Indian workers, including false reports about 12 people being killed in Tamil Nadu for speaking Hindi. Panic spread as the news spread through family WhatsApp groups of migrant workers. Several online and TV news outlets in northern states began circulating the story, and the Bihar BJP unit started it, apparently in response to Tejashwi’s participation in Stalin’s birthday celebrations.
According to the official, “a dozen prominent and verified BJP handles with lakhs of followers are actively spreading different fake news on these lines since the DMK rally was held”. Incidentally, BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu themselves are silent on the issue.
BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said, “Tejashwi went to Chennai in a chartered flight to celebrate Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalinji’s birthday. We have no problem with it. But after eating the cake, why did he speak in favor of Tamil Nadu and against Bihar and Biharis?” Started?
On Tamil Nadu police’s allegations against social media posts by several leaders, including the BJP, Anand said: “We only want a fair probe, not the police trying to outright dismiss the alleged attacks.”
A top government official in Chennai said a delegation from Bihar is meeting the Chief Secretary and DGP of Tamil Nadu. The Bihar team is headed by its Rural Development Secretary, Balamurugan D, and includes IGP (CID) P Kannan and Special Secretary, Labour, Alok Kumar.
Another senior official said that they are closely monitoring the situation. “We are taking all necessary steps to inform the workers from other states about the actual situation. We are closely monitoring as intelligence reports indicate that the target of the rumors was to flee. But, apart from the usual travel by workers to their native states for Holi, there is no sign of such a scenario now,” said the official.
The Tamil Nadu police, which has consistently denied the incidents, said at least one video being circulated actually pertains to a fight between workers from Bihar and Jharkhand in Tamil Nadu. The police have also warned against putting up a common helpline number, along with “misleading” reports, urging migrant laborers to call in case they face any problems.