Unlike the Assam police, who arrested 38 social media abusers within a week of the lynching of two adventure enthusiasts in Guwahati, the cyber cell of the Meghalaya police is yet to locate those responsible for igniting the communal violence in the State capital of Shillong with misinformation spread through WhatsApp a fortnight ago.
A tiff between non-tribal women and tribal bus operators on May 31 had snowballed into communal unrest after rumours about the death of local youth spread on social media.
Stand-off
Instigated, mobs attacked the Punjabi Lane and their stand-off with security forces continued for five days.
“We are following some clues to zero in on the people behind the misinformation campaign on social media,” an officer of Meghalaya police’s cyber cell said on Friday.
But the officer said the cell did not have adequate manpower and was in need of upgraded equipment to act with speed and accuracy.
An Assam police officer said it was easier to locate misinformation or hate message handlers on platforms such as Facebook than WhatsApp.
Keeping tabs
The Nagaland police, who were among the first to counter social media misinformation campaign after people thrashed a couple of transgenders following the child lifter scare more than two weeks ago, have found a way out to keep tabs on volatile WhatsApp content.
“We have asked police personnel of all ranks to be members of certain WhatsApp groups to track who is posting or sharing what,” Nagaland police chief Rupin Sharma said.
