Woman held for spreading rumours about COVID-19

Kolkata: A woman has been arrested by personnel of New Alipore police station for allegedly spreading rumours about COVID-19.

On Sunday morning, police were informed about a message being circulated in a WhatsApp group, which turned out to be a rumour regarding the pandemic situation.

In the message it was mentioned that several COVID-19 patients have been detected in New Alipore area, about which the state administration is not speaking out. During a preliminary probe, police found that the name of the sender was 'Pallavi Kangaroo Kids.'

As there is a kindergarten school styled as Kangaroo Kids in New Alipore, cops got in touch with the school administration but found that no such staff works there.

Police later managed to get the mobile numbers of a few guardians of the students studying in the same school and found the woman's number among them. She was identified as Pallavi Shivani.

As soon as the woman was identified, police went to her residence located on Jyotish Roy Road in Behala and detained her. During interrogation, she admitted the allegation, following which she was arrested.

Meanwhile, Bidhannagar City Police has again started awareness in New Town area about rumours, after a WhatsApp message was found being circulated where it was mentioned that several COVID-19 patients have been detected in Shapoorji area.

Amidst the situation where several people are spreading rumours, Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) chairman Vinit Kumar has appealed to all stakeholders and employees of the port to stay away from any kind of unconfirmed news.

"To enable the port family to work in tandem with the national objective and bring this outbreak under proper control, spreading misinformation and panic has to stop. All steps are being taken to ensure your safety," read the appeal of the KoPT chairman.