STAFF CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: To quell social media rumour mongers who worked overtime to spread panic on the COVID-19 pandemic in the State, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday asked the officials to take tough action against them.
Taking cognizance of the social media outputs about a staff of the Chief Minister's office being infected by the disease as well as another employee of the National Informatics being another victim, the Chief Minister on Thursday stated, "I request our citizens to refrain from circulating/forwarding unverified information and create panic."
"I have instructed our officials in the meeting today to take stringent action against such individuals to avoid the spread of fake news", further added Sangma.
The spread of such unverified report about the infection of workers of a fuel station in Shillong prompted the owner to issue a clarification that the news is fake. These are not the only fake news related to the spread of COVID in the State since the March 24 lockdown. A committee was constituted to monitor the purported fake news, but nothing concrete has come out in terms of action against the culprits.
Sources said that the committee is preparing a draft to file FIRs on the latest cases of rumours created in social media.
Meanwhile, speaking to The Sentinel on this issue, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said, "This matter has been taken up by the government and we have directed the police to investigate the rumours which has been spreading and take action against the culprits."
He said such rumours on COVID-19 has created panic among the people of the State and there is a need to put a stop to it as this is a very sensitive issue.
"The people should not take anything seriously on COVID-19 when it's based on rumours and instead should wait for announcement from the government," he said.
Also watch: Evening Bulletin | 8th June, 2020