'Videos of violence in B'desh Puja being projected as incidents in Bengal on social media'

KOLKATA: The state police have found some video clips of Durga Puja mandap vandalism in Bangladesh, which are being projected as incidents of violence in Bengal on social media with the intention of creating law and order problems in the state.

Police have already marked such videos as fake and informed about it on social media. Footage of a mob vandalising a Durga Puja mandap at Noakhali in Bangladesh is being circulated on social media platforms. In the footage, people are found talking in Bengali. Posting the same video on social media platforms, a group of people has been allegedly claiming that it is a scene from Bengal where followers of a particular community are vandalising the mandap. Several fact-checking websites have already found that the video is not of Bengal's and also posted it on social media.

However, the West Bengal Police has also marked such videos, which are being circulated on the social media platforms, as fake. Police have cautioned the social media users to refrain from posting such fake videos, which can instigate violence.

The state police on Tuesday tweeted: "Few video clips from Bangladesh relating to Durga Puja are being circulated on WhatsApp and other social media platforms with mischievous intention of creating law and order problems in WB. Please refrain from spreading such videos which are liable for legal prosecution."

Earlier, BJP's national vice-president Dilip Ghosh had spread misinformation on social media by claiming that a Puja pandal at Egra in East Midnapore was vandalised. The Superintendent of Police (SP), East Midnapore, Amarnath K had dismissed the allegations of Ghosh and said police would initiate strict legal action against those spreading fake information to create tension in the state.