Noida Police book two X users for spreading fake news about Dhruv Rathee’s arrest

Noida Police have registered a case against two identified and other unidentified X accounts for allegedly spreading false claims about YouTuber Dhruv Rathee’s arrest, saying the posts were intended to create panic and disturb law and order in the district.

The case was registered under Sections 197 (imputation, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 352 (statements conducive to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act at Sector 39 police station.

“On October 16 some social media accounts attempted to disrupt peace and law and order situation through their posts,” sub-inspector Sunil Kumar said in the complaint.

The FIR mentioned two posts, one of which read, “Tough days ahead for Dhruv Rathee. Just this evening, Noida Police arrested him over his videos allegedly disrespecting Hindu gods and urging the Army and police to revolt against the government. The politician behind this is so powerful that even Arvind Kejriwal won’t be able to save him. In the next 10-15 days, Dhruv Rathee is going to regret coming to India**.**”

The other post read, “Druv Rathee has been arrested. Dhruv Rathee has been arrested by Noida Police this time, not Delhi Police. Don’t expect any mercy from Yogi Baba.”

Police officers said that Rathee was not arrested by Noida Police, and no such information had been disseminated through any of the official social media handles of Noida Police. Therefore, the aforementioned information was entirely false, misleading, and baseless, officers added.

Following these posts on October 16, Noida Police also fact-checked the false information, dismissing the claims.

“In the present circumstances, posting such content has spread anger and fear among the public, adversely affecting law and order. The two Twitter users deliberately circulated false and provocative information, thereby attempting to create fear, anger, and distrust toward the state administration and to disrupt public peace. They prepared a misleading narrative to incite and provoke people and attempted to influence law and order,” the FIR accessed by HT stated.

The actions of the Twitter users fell under the category of unlawful acts, including incitement, spreading rumours, disturbing public peace, and spreading panic and disorder through electronic media, police said. They also urged people to rely only on official channels for information, as such “fake news” spreads rapidly and disturbs harmony among people.

Rathee arrived in Delhi recently to take part in the protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. He was released following nearly 18 hours of detention by Gurugram Police on October 11, ahead of a protest in Delhi demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.