Some news and media outlets, and persons were booked in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday for sharing allegedly misleading information about the protests against the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, PTI quoted the Srinagar Police as saying.
Protests had erupted in several Indian states after Khamenei was killed on Sunday in a joint military operation carried out by the United States and Israel. He was considered an important figure by Shia Muslims globally.
At least 14 persons, including six security personnel, were injured during the protests in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, the Hindustan Times reported.
Amid the demonstrations, the authorities in the Union Territory had curtained mobile internet speed.
On Tuesday, the police in Srinagar said that they had taken cognisance of the “deliberate circulation of false, fabricated and misleading information by certain news channels, media outlets and individuals across electronic and social media platforms”.
It added: “These elements are systematically attempting to spread distorted narratives and unverified content with the clear intent to incite unrest, disturb public order and create disharmony in society.”
The police said that a first information report had been registered, adding that “several profiles have been identified and concerned individuals have been summoned to the cyber cell”.
It did not specify what the allegedly misleading information was and who had been booked.
The police also advised “citizens and media organisations to exercise responsibility and verify facts only from official and credible sources before sharing any content that may disturb communal harmony or public order”.
The conflict in West Asia began on Saturday when Israel and the US attacked Iran. Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeted major cities in other Gulf countries.
The killing of Khamenei, who had controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces since 1989, further escalated an already volatile situation in the region.
Also read:
- Interview: ‘Regime change unlikely after Khamenei killing, Iran can survive deaths of many leaders’
- The regime will not go quietly: The message behind Iran’s strikes on US allies in West Asia
- ‘Nobody could sleep last night’: Indian workers on edge as Iran attacks Dubai, Doha
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