A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the party workers in Punjab to check oxygen levels of people in State’s villages and help in identifying the potential Covid-19 patients, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday warned him to stay out of his state and focus on managing the situation in the national Capital.
“We don’t need your oximeters. We just need you to rein in your workers in Punjab, where they are trying to incite my people into not going to hospitals to get themselves tested and treated for Covid-19,” said Capt Amarinder.
“Stay out of Punjab and focus on managing Covid-19 in your own State, where the situation is worsening by the day with more than 2,500 new cases being reported yesterday and hospitals reportedly running out of ICU beds again,” he said.
Punjab Chief Minister cautioned his Delhi counterpart against trying to exploit the Covid-19 crisis to instigate people in State’s villages, which have witnessed a spurt of fake news and provocative videos, at least one of which was found to have emanated from abroad, most likely Pakistan, and propagated here by an active worker of Kejriwal’s AAP.
“AAP’s Amrinder Singh has been arrested and is being questioned to ascertain who motivated him to circulate the outrageous post of a dead body to mislead the people of Punjab into believing that organs of dead Corona patients were being removed by the Punjab Health Department,” said the Chief Minister.
He added the video or post propagated by AAP worker was seen to be exhorting and provoking people not to cooperate with health authorities, thus endangering the health and safety of the citizens of the State.
“Such rumours are provoking a section of the community to resist proper medical care which needs to be provided to all Covid affected citizens, which is a clear case of a deadly criminal conspiracy against the people of the State who are already suffering due to the pandemic,” said Capt Amarinder.
There were enough indications of a massive plot by elements inimical to the interests of Punjab, he said, disclosing that the police had on Thursday morning registered another case at Patiala Civil Lines police station on a complaint by a local medical journalist, who was offered 100 dollars for making and circulating a false video on Covid scare.
“Kejriwal’s announcement in the midst of the shocking viral campaign, asking AAP workers to go around villages and streets of Punjab with oximeters to check people’s oxygen levels, raised serious questions on the role of his party in the conspiracy to undermine Punjab Government’s efforts to keep the pandemic under check and save the lives of the people of the State,” added the Chief Minister.
Saying that Delhi Chief Minister’s decision could have grave repercussions for Punjab’s security and integrity, Capt Amarinder warned Kejriwal against playing into the hands of anti-India forces from across the border, who are trying to use the Covid pandemic to foment fresh trouble for the State.
DGP ASKED TO PROBE IN AAP WORKER’s ROLE
Chief Minister has asked the state Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta to trace links of AAP worker arrested for fake Covid-19 video. Notably, the police has arrested AAP worker, Amrinder Singh of Mishriwala village in Ferozepur district, in a case under section 66 of the IT Act, 54 of Disaster Management Act (DMA) and 153 of the Indian Penal Code for circulation of false and misleading posts on social media platforms.
Photographs and videos claiming that doctors were removing vital organs of Covid patients had been traced to 31-year-old Amrinder, who was actively operating from Moga. The posts or videos were exhorting and provoking people not to cooperate with health authorities and spreading false rumours about removal of body organs of dead corona patients by the Health Department, thus endangering the health and safety of the citizens of the State.
It is learnt that Amrinder Singh is an active worker of AAP and was an aspirant for the MLA ticket from Ferozepur assembly segment from AAP party. He has been actively involved in political activities on behalf of AAP and participates in protests and agitations on behalf of the party.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has also asked the DGP to thoroughly investigate the complaint of a journalist Taruni Gandhi about being offered money to spread fake videos on Covid crisis. The Chief Minister has asked the DGP to ensure strict action against all those endangering the lives of Punjab’s people by launching such an atrocious campaign.