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Dadri lynching: Police keep tab on youth WhatsApp groups for rumours

Social media played role in spreading the message that Dadri's Mohamad Akhlaq had slaughtered a cow

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Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma visits the aggrieved family in Dadri
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The Uttar Pradesh Police in the last two months had diffused nearly five incidents of communal tension in various villages of Dadri. Authorities here had received intelligence inputs from multiple sources about village youth, who as the police believe, were having 'conversations' which might have disturbed the peace in the area. SHO Subodh Kumar however while talking dna said that local police had not received any intelligence inputs about what was to happen on the night of September 28 in Dadri where Mohamad Akhlaq was beaten to death by a mob on rumours of him eating beef.

Officials here told dna that police had been particularly keeping an eye on WhatsApp groups where most of these conversations between village youth have been taking place. In fact social media played quite a role in spreading the rumour that Akhlaq's had slaughtered a cow and stored its meat in his fridge. Pictures of the meat and body parts of an animal have been shared many times on various social media websites ever since. Social media had also played a role in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

While Gautam Buddha Nagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kiran S told dna that a case has been registered in this matter as well and persons spreading rumours on social media will face action soon, mobilisation through social media is not the only challenge the police here face.

Officials here believe that if every village has a WhatsApp group discussing such stuff, it can pose a great challenge for the UP police to control the situation. There are around 115 villages in Dadri area alone.
dna had earlier reported how in the last six months little-known groups like – Rashtravadi Pratap Sena (RPS), Choudhary Charan Singh Sena and the Samadhan Sena, had sprung up in Dadri. The heads of these groups have claimed to be close to the BJP and sources had told dna that at least two of the accused arrested in connection with Akhlaq's murder were close to such groups. Moreover the arrest of Vishal Rana, son of a BJP leader, has also put questions on the relationship shared by BJP with these local groups.

"What we are seeing here is outsourcing of jobs. These groups are being delegated work by larger political forces without them getting dragged into the dirt," the head said.

Pose a challenge
According to an official, local police, keeps a tab on these WhatsApp groups for any conversations which could threaten the law and order situation. But the fact that youth have been aligning themselves with political groups having extreme views, is particularly an emerging threat many parts of Dadri. Officials here believe that if every village has a WhatsApp group discussing such stuff, it can pose a great challenge to UP Police to control the situation. There are around 115 villages in Dadri area alone.
 

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