The Goa Police on Wednesday arrested a man for claiming on Facebook that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had died, IANS reported. Parrikar is being treated for a pancreatic ailment in the United States.
The Crime Branch arrested 35-year-old Kenneth Silveira for his post after interrogating him for several hours. “He has been arrested under Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code and will be produced before a magistrate on Thursday,” Crime Branch Superintendent of Police Karthik Kashyap said. Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code addresses the circulation of fake messages that cause public alarm.
On Tuesday, Silveira had uploaded a post that read: “Just got news that Parrikar is no more.” After other Facebook users pointed out that it was fake news, Silveira accepted that his message was inaccurate but did not delete the post. “This post was more towards clearing the doubts. I did not confirm the news, I said that I got the news,” Silveira said in a subsequent comment.
On Monday, the state’s Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai had said that Parrikar had sounded positive during a phone call and added that he was starting his third phase of treatment.
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