Fake anti-graft helpline No. doing rounds on social media

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Jalandhar, March 17

Even though the Punjab Government’s official anti-corruption helpline number will be announced on March 23, a wrong number has started doing the rounds on social media appealing to the public to register corruption-related complaints.

The message being forwarded in Punjabi reads, “After March 16, if any official or government employee does not do his/her job properly or says no to work, asks for bribe or is absent from duty but in records is present, the public can immediately call on this number (9115000693) to register a complaint and a prompt action would be taken at the same moment.”

When state AAP president Rajwinder Kaur was contacted to verify the authenticity of the message, she said no such number had been launched by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or the Punjab Government. The message being shared was fake.

“Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann on Thursday announced to launch an anti-corruption helpline number, which would be his personal WhatsApp number where people can report their complaints and malpractices taking place in government offices. The helpline number will be made public on March 23 and that would be the only number launched by the government of Punjab so far, therefore, people must not believe in these WhatsApp forwards and are requested to cross-check the credibility of such messages,” she added.

District AAP president Surinder Sodhi said to defame the AAP, some people were deliberately sharing misleading information on social media. He said earlier a fake list of Cabinet ministers was being shared and now a fake number. He appealed to the public to report such fake messages to the cyber cell and avoid forwarding it in their contacts.

Meanwhile, when this correspondent tried to find out the source of this message with the help of a cyber expert, it was known that the message was shared from a secured IP address, while the number in the message belonged to a person, Amit, who hails from Sunam in Sangrur. Besides, the number was switched off.

Report fake messages to cyber cell: AAP

District Aam Aadmi Party president Surinder Sodhi said to defame the AAP, some people were deliberately sharing misleading information on social media. He said earlier a fake list of Cabinet ministers was being shared and now a fake number. He appealed to the public to report such fake messages to the cyber cell and avoid forwarding it in their contacts