The Nagpur police’s cyber cell has issued warning to around 300 people for posting and supporting hate messages on social media. This development comes in wake of the murder of chemist Umesh Kolhe in Amravati last month.
Commissioner of police Amitesh Kumar informed that such action was taken after ‘social media monitoring cell’ of the city police (cyber unit) spotted those messages and received complaints about objectionable posts, which could have led to untoward incidents, if not tackled at an early stage.
After getting the details, police warned around 75 WhatsApp group admins that led to the removal of 86 hateful or offensive messages while four cases were registered against locals who posted hateful messages on social media.
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According to Kumar, the police have also ensured that 10 social media accounts, including Twitter handles and Facebook pages, were either blocked or proposed for suspension through official communications with the respective agencies.
During a crime review meeting on Thursday, Kumar reviewed his covert cyber mission to keep social media under surveillance.
The action by this cell has been stepped up post Udaipur and Amravati murders, which have shaken up the nation. He also addressed a citizen-driven ‘peace committee’ meeting, urging members to act as an interface to help defuse communal tensions, share inputs and alert the department.
In neighbouring Amravati, Kolhe was murdered after he supported the objectionable remarks of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammed in a social media group. Kolhe was murdered on June 21 night when he was on his way home from his shop.
“Our cyber cell is closely monitoring the social media in Nagpur. We have already counselled several social media users appropriately in person after summoning them to our units. Some serious issues had cropped up in the city too, which were handled sensitively and at the earliest,” said Kumar. The city police will also soon be launching its own social media campaign, appealing to people to refrain from posting or authoring hateful or offensive messages.
Last month, a 22-year-old youth and his family members were compelled to leave the city after receiving threats from a particular community for supporting Nupur Sharma on a social media group.
The family spent over two weeks away from their home at Deshpande Layout in east Nagpur locality and having recently returned, is still living in fear with their movements heavily restricted.
The Nagpur city police, intervening in the matter, had stopped an almost certain attack on the youth last month, even before the Udaipur or Amravati incident shook the nation. The family of the youth had deleted the objectionable post supporting Sharma, and he had also tendered repeated apologies.