A 35-year-old Muhammad Abrar Hussain Shaikh was arrested by Vadodara Police for sharing fake news on social networking site Facebook claiming 145 out of 400 people stuck in Vaishnodevi temple tested positive for Chinese Coronavirus.
As reported by online web portal DeshGujarat, Shaikh has been booked under IPC section 502(2) and Disaster Management Act 2005, section 54 by city’s cyber cell police station.
Shaikh had shared a Facebook post by Islamist Ali Sohrab, who has a history of spreading fake news. None of the devotees are stuck at the temple and in fact, the temple has been shut since March 18. After the Tablighi Jamaatis were found to be super-spreaders leading to an increase in COVID-19 positive cases, Islamist Ali Sohrab took to social media to spread the fake news. In a bid cover up the Islamist’s transgression and to make Hindu’s appear to be as much in fault as these Islamists, implying that not only Muslims but even Hindu’s have partaken in disseminating coronavirus across the country, Ali Sohrab concocted this imaginary story.
Moreover, Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has also refuted such claims. They have confirmed that no Vaishno Devi pilgrim is stuck anywhere in the temple nor in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir where the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi is located.