New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) Delhi Police has rebutted at least 15 instances of alleged fake news and misleading social media posts since the Monday protest here, while its fact-check teams are analysing hundreds of viral videos and posts to trace their origin and identify those spreading misinformation, police sources said on Wednesday.
The rebuttals included claims that a 12-year-old girl and a woman protester were assaulted by police, that CJP founder Abhijit Dipke had been detained, that a girl had died in a stampede following a police lathicharge, and that police personnel used pellet guns or batons fitted with nails during the clashes.
Police and protesters led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) have blamed each other for the violence during the march to Parliament on the NEET issue. Delhi Police has faced criticism and charges of brutality with dozens of videos on social media purportedly showing clashes between the police personnel and protesters, amid lathicharge, tear gas use and stone pelting.
According to an internal compilation prepared by the police, several claims circulating on social media since Monday were found to be false, misleading, old or shared out of context, prompting the force to issue rebuttals through its official social media handles.
Police denied claims that videos purportedly showing attacks on women or violence by police were from the protest site, saying many of them were either unrelated to the protests or circulated with misleading context.
A police source said investigators were also examining a viral audio clip in which the voice of a senior police officer was allegedly altered.
“The original appeal by the officer asking protesters to maintain peace and law and order was manipulated. Pakistan-based handlers allegedly modulated the voice and inserted fabricated audio. The viral clip is completely fake and has already been rebutted,” the source said.
The source said Delhi Police has constituted a dedicated fact-check team that is scrutinising every viral video, photograph and audio clip related to the protest.
“The team verifies the source of every video, examines it from all possible angles, checks available databases and analyses digital footprints. Whenever a claim is found to be false or misleading, an official clarification is issued through the Delhi Police’s official X handle,” the source said.
Police said investigators were simultaneously analysing social media posts and videos showing attacks on police personnel, stone-pelting, vandalism of police vehicles and damage to public property during the protest.
These videos are being matched with CCTV footage, AI-based camera inputs and other digital evidence to identify those allegedly involved in the violence and support the ongoing investigation.
Officials said legal action would be initiated against those found deliberately creating, altering or circulating false information aimed at spreading panic, misleading the public or disrupting law and order. PTI BM BM RT RT RT RT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.