JAKARTADAILY.ID - Indian Police are hunting down the owners of around fake 100 social media accounts responsible for sharing misleading information following attacks on several Muslim properties in the country's northeast.
Last month, Tripura state faced violence amidst the rally for hundreds of followers of a right-wing Hindu nationalist group. The incident seemed to be a "revenge attack" after several Hindu worshippers across the border in Bangladesh were killed.
A total of four mosques, several Muslim-owned homes and businesses were attacked and robbed. Muslims form about nine percent of Tripura's 3.7 million population.
"The accounts identified were spreading rumors, fake news, fake videos, and fake photographs that were not even linked to Tripura," said a senior police officer in the state.
The posts were published by "unidentified miscreants" to provoke further violence. Police then wrote to several social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, to get the posts taken down. Many of the offending posts had been removed by Sunday.
The state is now on high alert. Security forces are now put on guard around mosques, and gatherings of more than four people are prohibited.
Leaders of India's minority Muslim community said they had been subject to increasing attacks and threats since the BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, rose to power in 2014. They were also left with little opportunity for official recourse.
However, they are still hoping for the state government to take action against the perpetrators, as well as the police officers who did not step in to prevent the violence.
