The Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Assam has filed an FIR against a Bengali daily for publishing ‘fake news’.
DIPR, Assam as per direction of district magistrate on Sunday filed an FIR against the Bengali daily ‘Jugasankha‘.
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The DIPR has stated a news item published in the newspaper is fake.
It refers to a news item that claims that the first corovirus positive patient is presently stable.
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The FIR filed by the district information and public relations officer of Karimganj stated that the Silchar edition of ‘Jugasankha’ had published a news item that the first COVID-19 patient of Assam, Jamal Uddin of Hasanpur, Srigouri of the district, who is undergoing treatment at the Silchar Medical College has been cured.
The FIR also mentioned that the news report also claimed that the second COVID-19 test conducted on the patient was found negative.
The FIR claimed that according to doctors attending to the patient, the news item is completely baseless and that the patient is not recovered yet and ‘still uncured of COVID-19 positive’.
The FIR further alleged that the news item has spread like wildfire igniting rumours in the localities of Badarpur, Hasanpur and Srigouri causing inconvenience in maintaining law and order.
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Meanwhile, the State Government through a notification has instructed Manjur Ahmed Borbhuyan, the reporter of the daily and Ashim Kumar Nath, the publisher to take necessary action against fake news.
The FIR further urged the authorities to take legal action against the individuals under Section 188 and Assam COVID-19 Regulation 2020.