In the latest such violence triggered by circulation of messages on social media, two men were allegedly thrashed today by a mob in Gujarat's Devbhumi-Dwarka district on suspicion of being "child-lifters", police said.
The video of the purported assault which occurred in Okha town is doing rounds of the social media.
In the clip, a mob is purportedly seen attacking two men, who look like beggars, said Inspector General (Rajkot Range) D N Patel.
Devbhumi-Dwarka district superintendent of police Rohan Anand said local police rushed to the spot after learning about the incident and rescued the two men from the mob.
"We came to know through a video that two persons who looked like baggers were being thrashed in Devbhumi Dwarka today. I have sent a DySP to the spot to probe the matter. We will take stern action against the accused," the IG said.
Patel said an audio clip cautioning people about child-lifters roaming in the area has been doing rounds on the social media since the last few days.
"In the audio clip, one Joshi is claiming that a gang of child lifters has landed in Devbhumi-Dwarka and Jamnagar districts. He then cautions people to save their children from this gang. Locals might have believed what is being claimed in the audio clip which went viral. However, we found no merit in those claims. We urge people not to believe such audio clips," he said.
Superintendents of Police of Jamnagar and Devbhumi Dwarka districts too have confirmed that claims made in the audio clip were false.
"In the audio clip, it has been claimed that a gang of around 300 persons have landed in Jamnagar and Devbhumi Dwarka districts to abduct children in the age group of 5 to 6. There is no truth in what has been claimed in the clip," said Anand.
He said the two men beaten in Okha have been shifted to a safer place and further investigation is on.
Jamnagar SP Pradeep Sejul has appealed to people not to take law into their hands by blindly believing in such audio clips or social media posts.
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