Two FIRs filed for fake online posts in connection with Noida workers’ protest: Police

POlice feature registered ii number one info Reports (FIRs) on midweek morning against three X accounts and one Facebook account for allegedly instigating violence and unrest, as workers’ protests demanding a salary hike continued in Noida despite the revised salary structure by the Uttar Pradesh government and district administration.Earlier, police had registered seven FIRs across multiple police stations in Gautam Budh Nagar against more than 4,000 people, and two separate FIRs at the Cybercrime Branch police station against social media handles on Monday. By Tuesday evening, 396 people had been arrested.The protest began in Noida on Friday in the Phase 2 area, when thousands of protesters started gathering to demand a salary hike, bonus, and leave. Initially, the protest was peaceful for three days, but it turned violent on Monday.The first FIR registered on Wednesday was against two X handles, Priyanka Bharti and Dr Kanchan Yadav, for posting videos of Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol police assault incident dated April 11. “Both accounts connected the MP incident to Noida, which is incorrect,” reads the FIR accessed by HT.Both accounts claim to be national spokespersons for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), police said.The second FIR was registered against a Facebook account, Jitendra Kumar Dausa, for posting similar content linking the Shahdol incident to the Noida protest, and against an X handle, Katyayani, for sharing another unrelated incident as if it had occurred in Noida.Police said the FIRs were registered by sub-inspector-rank officers under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act.“The incident is being presented and circulated in a way that is completely false and misleading. The immediate consequence of these false claims made by both Twitter users through electronic media was that anger and fear spread among the public in various areas of Noida. As a result, there was an adverse impact on law and order,” the FIR states.“Due to these posts, an atmosphere of fear and distrust spread in the surrounding areas, which affected the image of the police. From these posts, it is clear that both Twitter users deliberately spread false and misleading information in a planned manner with the intention of creating fear, confusion, anger, and distrust among the public. This created a situation that could have potentially disturbed public peace. Both Twitter users attempted to provoke and incite people by creating a misleading narrative and thereby tried to disrupt law and order,” it added.Noida Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh said strict action would be taken against anyone instigating violence in the district. Apart from this, police are also scanning CCTV cameras to identify people involved in vandalism.Police said over 6,000 personnel are on the ground to prevent unrest in any area of Noida and Greater Noida. As a precautionary measure, officials said the personnel will remain deployed for three days.