Cracking down on fake news about COVID-19 on social media platforms, the Chamarajanagar district police have arrested two men for spreading false information that two persons had tested positive for the disease.
The police arrested Lokesh, 32, from Kumudavadi in Chamarajanagar and Nagendra, 21, from Nanjangud, and produced them before the Principal Civil Judge in Chamarajanagar on Friday night.
They have been remanded in judicial custody till March 26, Superintendent of Police, Chamarajanagar district, Ananda Kumar told The Hindu.
The accused duo had spread false information that a girl from Nanjangud and a man from Kabbali village in Gundlupet taluk had tested positive for COVID-19.
The posts shared by the accused contained bold and highlighted text with pictures that had been morphed on the screenshots of a private television channel footage to lend it a stamp of credibility.
After seeing the post on social media, the girl turned up at Nanjangud police station and clarified that she was healthy and the post was fake, according to the police.
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