Efforts to spoil communal peace in the city

Police appeal to not believe in rumors

Aurangabad, April 29:

Some miscreants have become active on social media and are trying to create religious rift in the city. Two such incidents were reported on Thursday night. However, the timely efforts of the city police averted a major crisis.

According to the police, a group of 15 to 18 youths were taking selfies at Girija Petrol Pump at Sharnapur Phata. They had an argument. The dispute escalated into a brawl and a youth was severely beaten. As the crowd gathered, the staff and manager at the petrol pump settled the dispute. The wounded were sent to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

But later a rumor was spread that a youth of a community was beaten up and forced to say 'Jai Shriram'. Due to the rumor, a large crowd started gathering in the GMCH after half past one in the night. The police administration reached the spot. While trying to resolve the tension, the police lodged an investigation and found out that all the youths seen quarreling in the video were from the same community. This calmed the situation and no untoward incident was reported. Meanwhile, a second video went viral on social media showing a man saying that he was made to say ‘Jai Shriram’ by some youths from Ambedkarnagar. The police again lodged a search and found that the video was circulated from GMCH premises by a person from the mob. The police caught the person and conducted an investigation. The youth then confessed that he was forced to give a false statement in the video by some people in the crowd. The police revealed that both the incidents were rumors.