Leaders wish speedy recovery to Jaya, 43 cases filed against rumour mongers

With Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa continuing to receive medical attention at a hospital here, her Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir counterparts on Tuesday wished her speedy recovery even as police warned against misuse of social media to spread “rumours and malicious content” about the AIADMK supremo’s health.

While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu sent Tirupati temple’s ‘prasadam’ to Jayalalithaa, his Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Mehbooba Mufti deputed her cabinet colleague Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali to Apollo Hospital where the 68-year-old AIADMK leader is undergoing treatment. 

AIADMK’s official Twitter handle said that Naidu had sent ‘prasadam’ from ‘Tirupati’ temple, in an apparent reference to the Lord Venkateshwara Temple at Tirumala Tirupati, to Apollo Hospital where Jayalalithaa has been admitted. “Chandrababu Naidu had puja at Tirupati temple for complete recovery of Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa). The Andhra CM sent the prasadam to Apollo Hospital” a Tamil tweet by @AIADMKofficial, said.

Ali, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Jammu and Kashmir, said the visit was on behalf of Mehbooba Mufti.

“I expressed the best wishes from the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Chief minister,” he said. Ali said he enquired about Jayalalithaa’s health with the state ministers present at the hospital and said that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was “responding well” to the treatment and “recovering”. Former state Congress chief M Krishnasamy also visited the hospital.

Meanwhile, police sought to check misuse of social media to spread rumours about Jayalalithaa’s health and warned of stern action against those indulging in such acts.

“We have formed few police teams and the help of cyber experts from private agencies has been sought. They will help the Cyber Crime wing,” a senior official of Central Crime Branch (CCB) of City Police dealing with the matter told PTI. He said the Cyber Crime wing will keep a watch on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube which are allegedly being misused to spread rumours about Jayalalithaa, who is undergoing treatment since September 22 when she complained of fever and dehydration.

Police have so far registered 43 cases and arrested two persons in connection with posting of “malicious and false content” on social media about the health of the AIADMK leader.  Special teams, constituted to investigate such cases, were working to identify those who had posted such “false and malicious content” on social media, they said, adding such “offences are liable to be punished with rigorous imprisonment for more than seven years.”