MP: Whatsapp 'admin' among 3 held for rumour-mongering

A Whatsapp group administrator was among three persons arrested today for allegedly spreading rumours about a non-existing crime in Singrauli district, police said.

The main accused is identified as Surendra Dwivedi who is the 'admin' of the Whatsapp group: "Evil of Urjanchal", police said.

Dwivedi allegedly posted a message that villagers in Khutar village, about 15 kms from the district headquarters, had chopped off the private parts of a man after he was found in an objectionable position with a woman, a police official said.

He said no such incident had ever occurred in the village.

"Two of the group members, identified as Gulam Raza and Rajesh Dwivedi, allegedly forwarded Dwivedi's post on July 30," said Kotwali police station in-charge Manish Tripathi.

The trio were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act, he said.

Last month, a woman was allegedly lynched by a mob in Bhosh village near Singrauli on suspicion that she was a child-lifter, police had said.

According to police, the crime occurred amid rumours on the social media that some child-lifters were on the prowl in rural areas of the district.

Police had launched a campaign in the wake of the lynching incident to identify the people behind circulation of false messages in the district.