Social media misused to incite trouble, says IB chief

Social media platforms were being misused to foment trouble, Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Asif Ibrahim said here Thursday.

Speaking at the three-day conference of Directors General of Police (DGPs), Ibrahim said that the Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh were fanned by the misuse of various social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, online blogging etc).

He observed that India's secular fabric was under stress because of incidents of communal violence.

The IB chief said that the triggering incident in communal clashes was mostly trivial and "could have been curbed by a strong administrative action".

He also said terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) was trying to forge a nexus with other terror groups.

Referring to the arrest of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, he said it had led to identification of the perpetrators and unravelling of terror plots.

"Leads (in terror cases) are being vigorously followed," he added.