Taking strong exception to deceptive audio-videos circulating on social media about the coronavirus, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Monday directed the Civil Surgeons of the State to take strict actions against the rumor mongers.
Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta has also issued instructions to the District Police Officers to take prompt action against culprits, on which the Police’s cyber wing has started investigation to trace the perpetrators, said Sidhu.
The Minister said that the Police have registered a case against Garish Bhatt under Section 188 of the IPC and Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act. “The accused had uploaded a forged video on Instagram about the corona pandemic. Police have arrested him and impound his phone,” he said.
“Similarly, Sarabjot Singh Sonu was arrested and a case has been registered against him. He had posted a video on Facebook spreading rumors about COVID-19 sampling process in villages and spreading misconceptions about teams of Health Department,” he added.
Sidhu said that the entire world, including India and Punjab, is battling against the curse of COVID-19 pandemic and we are going through perilous times.
“The duties of all the departments have been fixed but in spite of this, the spread of corona is on the rise and our tireless employees are also being affected by this deadly disease and many have lost their lives in line of their duty,” he said adding that so far, about 836 employees of the Health Department have been affected by corona while two employees have died. About 1,650 police personnel have been affected and 13 have died, he added.
Appealing the people not to fall prey to the rumors, the Cabinet Minister said that if any malefactor is found misleading the people about corona or claiming to make corona medicine, people should immediately inform the Health or Police Department so that strict action can be taken against perpetrators.
Clearing the air regarding the development of the vaccine, he exhorted that no vaccine has been developed yet and the only option left behind for us to follow the health protocols in letter and spirit till the vaccine is not developed.