Nambardar held for spreading false info about organ trafficking at Patiala hospital

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 8

In its continued crackdown against rumour-mongers, the Punjab Police arrested the nambardar of Jattpura village in Ludhiana for uploading a fake and objectionable post about human organ trafficking at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, on Facebook, and spreading rumours on Covid-19.

The accused, Mandeep Singh, alias Deepa, has been booked under Section 188 of the IPC and Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act.

The investigation has revealed that Mandeep uploaded a post on Facebook on August 24 wherein he made disparaging remarks about the hospital and referred to it as being a centre for human organ trafficking. He levelled a baseless allegation that the saff kill people by injections, etc, an official spokesperson said.

The accused has admitted that he uploaded the post as he was emotionally disturbed after his uncle, a sarpanch, died recently due to Covid-19, the spokesperson added.

Notably, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday had directed the DGP to crack down on rumour-mongers spreading misinformation among the people about the pandemic.

In another case, the Jalandhar police registered an FIR against 10 persons, including the son of an ASI, for partying during night curfew restrictions and for possessing an illegal weapon, and against the owner of the restaurant, identified as Jassi Bansal, where the party was held. Karamvir Kaily, one of the accused who is the son of an ASI and was out on bail, had thrown a birthday party at the restaurant with eight to 10 friends. Acting on a tip-off, a police party raided the restaurant on the intervening night of September 6 and 7. Kaily fled the spot, dropping his illegal weapon. The police managed to arrest two persons from the spot and efforts were on to catch others, the spokesperson said.

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