Odisha police warns against bid to create communal disharmony using train tragedy

Communal tweets on the Balasore train tragedy invited the ire of the Odisha Police, who took to twitter to warn of stringent action against those spreading communal disharmony.

The Odisha Police said that it has come to their notice that some social media handles are “mischievously giving communal colour” to the tragic train accident at Balasore. “This is highly unfortunate. Investigation by the GRP, Odisha into the cause and all other aspects of the accident is going on,” the police handle tweeted.

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“We appeal to all concerned to desist from circulating such false and ill-motivated posts. Severe legal action will be initiated against those who are trying to create communal disharmony by spreading rumours,” it added.

The Odisha Police’s warnings were prompted by tweets by a fringe group of right wing supporters, who tried to pass the blame on what they said was a mosque. The “mosque” later turned out to be an ISKCON temple.

A tweet by a user named The Random Indian (@randomsena) garnered heaven engagement, where the user tweeted a cropped photo of what they said was a mosque and carried the caption, “Just Saying Yesterday Was Friday”. The tweet, which was reported by users, later carried a context note.

The tweet was later fact-checked by websites like AltNews and BoomLive; both sites said that there was no mosque in the vicinity of the accident site.

Several replies to tweets insinuated the involvement of Muslims in the train tragedy that has claimed the lives of 275 people.