Mumbai Police on Monday have asked people to not believe rumours that are spread on social networking sites regarding child abduction messages.
Since the past week, people, essentially parents, have been receiving messages including letters and voice notes on their social media applications like WhatsApp and Facebook which says that children in several areas in Mumbai are being kidnapped from school and residential building premises by random men. One of the messages that the Free Press Journal verified, that was spread via WhatsApp said, "Two children from a civic school in Vikhroli were abducted by a random gang of men who were waiting outside the school." This message was backed by a voice note by an unknown person - which later created panic among parents.
Similarly, there were many more such fake messages that followed in areas like Kanjurmarg, Ghatkopar, Andheri, Jogeshwari, etc, that said similar things.
Clearing these, deputy commissioner of police, Prashant Kadam, Zone VII, on Monday said, "All the rumours are absolutely baseless. We (Mumbai Police) are here, for the safety of each citizen. That includes children, parents and teachers." He continued, "No reports of kidnapping or abduction has been reported anywhere, so the ones who are spreading such fake news are only creating panic among the people. We will be taking strict action against those who are behind these fake messages soon."
According to the police, they have visited and checked all the details and locations mentioned in the messages that are going viral on social media. "We have checked the allegations that are being made. It's all baseless and untrue," said a police official. Subsequently, the police have even checked closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage in all these places but they have not found anything that's being mentioned in the fake chain of messages.
