New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu police has filed a case against the Dainik Bhaskar, a Twitter handle named ‘Tanveer Post’ and BJP spokesperson Prashant Patel Umrao for allegedly spreading misinformation about attacks against migrant workers in the state.The Tiruppur North police station charged the Dainik Bhaskar editor under Sections 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups) and 505(i)(b) (intent to cause fear or alarm to the public) of the Indian Penal Code, The News Minute reported. The Tiruppur cyber crime police charged Mohammed Tanveer under the same sections as well as the Information Technology Act Section 56(D). The Thoothukudi Central police filed a case against Umrao under IPC Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A, 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).Dainik Bhaskar had reported that 15 Bihari migrant workers had claimed to have received death threats. It went so far as to allege Biharis were facing “Taliban-like” attacks in Tamil Nadu, solely for speaking Hindi. Umrao too claimed that there had been several attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant workers. His tweet was part of several fake or unrelated videos and messages that have been doing the rounds on social media.Recently, a video went viral on social media in which an individual can be seen verbally and physically assaulting Hindi-speaking migrant labourers in a crowded train compartment. In the video, the individual talks about the loss of job opportunities for Tamil Nadu natives due to migration, and punches and slaps the labourers. The Government Railway Police have since identified and arrested the accused.In light of this one incident, misinformation on the attacks on migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu has burgeoned.Following the multiple misleading reports, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said that he had asked the police to look into the matter.Tamil Nadu Director General of Police Sylendra Babu held a discussion with the Bihar DGP, saying that no such violence was taking place. “Videos of some old personal disputes were shot, and it was published saying that it was against the Bihar natives. Tamil Nadu police are taking stern action and providing protection to Bihar natives in Tamil Nadu,” J.S. Gangwar, Bihar’s Additional Director General of Police, said, according to The News Minute.Babu had issued a statement earlier this week too, stating that migrant workers were not being attacked. “The videos that are being circulated on social media are four months old and show clashes between migrant workers belonging to Bihar and Jharkhand. Another video is of a murder that took place in Coimbatore outside a court complex last month. No attacks on migrant workers have taken place in Tamil Nadu,” Babu had told The News Minute.
