The Munnar estate workers rushed to the Munnar post office after a fake news stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised Rs 15 lakh deposit for those who have postal accounts.
Idukki: In a single day, 1,500 new bank accounts were created at Munnar town post office in Idukki. This sudden rush in Munnar town post office occurred due to a fake news that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to deposit Rs 15 lakh to those who have postal accounts.
Fake news was circulated on social media on Saturday night and brought thousands to the post office on Sunday morning. They were mainly estate workers. Even though the post office employees tried to convey that the message on the WhatsApp groups was fake, the natives refused to buy it. Munnar natives gathered in the post office till 8pm on Sunday.
The post office employees even put up a signboard saying 'Never fall prey to fake news'. The post office authorities said that were unaware of such a scheme by the central government and they have no clue about such an announcement.
As the post office authorities failed to control the situation, they called up the police. Soon the police reached the spot and tried to convince the natives. By the time the police arrived, 1000 postal accounts were already opened by the authorities.
On Monday another fake news spread in Munnar, stating that land and a house will be granted for the natives for free by the government. Regional District Office at Devikulam witnessed a huge rush from the estate workers once again. Later the Regional District Officials had to issue a notice saying that there is no direction to take action against the fake news.
Meanwhile, Devikulam sub-collector Dr Renu Raj has instructed police to register a case against those spreading false information.
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