The Tripura police on Wednesday said it has registered five cases against 71 people for alleged provocative and fake posts on social media aiming at disturbing peace and communal harmony in the state.
Strict action will be taken against those who are "spreading rumours of communal violence and trying to create hatred in the society," it said.
Taking to Twitter, the state police said, "Five criminal cases have been registered against 71 persons who posted provocative posts on social media. Strict action shall be taken against those persons who are trying to create hatred in the society."
The five cases were filed for allegedly spreading rumours on social media platforms on the issue of recent communal violence incidents in Tripura, a senior officer said.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that fake pictures and videos were uploaded on social media to tarnish image of the government and the state police," he said.
The police appealed to people "not to like or retweet provocative posts since it amounts to rumour-mongering."
Fake news is being circulated that a mosque in Kakraban area of Gomati district has been damaged and vandalised, it said on the microblogging site.
"This is a complete misrepresentation of facts. The mosque in Dargabazar area of Kakraban is completely fine & Gomati police is working to maintain peace and tranquillity," it said.
Replying to a tweet, the cybercrime department of the police said, "These are fake videos being circulated under criminal conspiracy to disturb the peace and communal harmony in the state and defame the state government and police. The police registered criminal cases and suitable action against the fake rumours is being taken expeditiously."
The state government had on October 29 alleged that a group with vested interest from outside had hatched a conspiracy against the administration to create unrest in Tripura and malign its image by uploading fake photographs of a burning mosque on social media.
An investigation by the state police revealed that "no mosque was burnt in Panisagar sub-division in North Tripura district," information and culture minister Sushanta Chowdhury said.
A mosque was allegedly vandalised and two shops were set ablaze at Chamtilla during the October 26 Vishva Hindu Parishad rally which was organised to protest against the recent communal violence in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Three houses and a few shops, reportedly owned by members of the minority community, were also ransacked in nearby Rowa Bazar, North Tripura Superintendent of Police Bhanupada Chakraborty had said.
"There was no incident of burning of any mosque in Panisagar. Fake news was uploaded on social media on October 26 by a group from outside to disrupt the process of development for all sections of people in the state," Chowdhury had said in a video message.
It was a conspiracy to malign the image of the government, and appealed to the people to maintain peace, he added.
