Man arrested in Odisha’s Jajpur for circulating fake coronavirus info on social media

Jajpur: A 39-year-old man was arrested on Friday in Odisha’s Jajpur district for allegedly circulating false information over coronavirus on social media, police said.

The accused, Samir Kumar Rout of Serapur village in Bari block, posted on social media that a Dubai-returnee from Dharmasala area in the district tested positive for coronavirus and was undergoing treatment in Bhubaneswar.

When the post went viral on social media, a social activist brought it to the notice of the local police.

The Dharmasala Police found it to be completely fake, an official said.

We got information about the social media post made by Rout. We verified it and found it to be fake. Thereafter, Rout was arrested under relevant sections of the IPC,” said inspector-in-charge Saroj Kumar Sahoo.

The accused was presented to the local court and remanded to judicial custody for two weeks after his bail plea was rejected, police said.

(PTI)