Sardarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Child lifting rumours in Rajgarh area took an ugly turn on Sunday when a man was misunderstood and nearly beaten by a mob after he simply asked a child for directions to a nearby shop.
Man named Mithilesh Kumar, 23, a resident of Gopalganj district in Bihar, asked an 11-year- old boy in Rajgarh for the address of a chicken and mutton shop.
Locals grew suspicious and as rumours spread, a mob stopped and detained him. Rajgarh police arrived in time, controlled the situation and verified the matter on the spot.
Investigation revealed that Mithilesh works at a paper mill in Hatod, Sardarpur tehsil, which he management confirmed. Police cleared him of all suspicion.
For the past week, child theft rumours have gripped towns and villages of Sardarpur tehsil, causing widespread panic. Parents are reluctant to send children to school and attendance has dropped sharply.
Rajgarh police station in-charge Sameer Patidar appealed to the public not to believe rumours or take law into their own hands and warned of strict action against those spreading false information.
FIR for rumor related to child kidnapping
Earlier on Saturday, Ayodhya Nagar police registered an FIR against a social media user for allegedly spreading a rumor related to child kidnapping gang through an old viral Instagram video.
Ayodhya Nagar police station incharge Mahesh Lilhare said an Instagram user with a name ‘Prithvi Banna’ posted a video on Saturday claiming that a child thief had been caught.
During verification, police found that the video was actually from August 2019 and the claims made in it were false.
