In Maharashtra, 400 cyber crime cases filed on Covid issues, most on hate speech & communal accusations

Maharashtra Police has registered 400 cyber crime cases linked to Covid-19 and related issues till now. A large chunk of these cases pertain to hate speech and attempt to give a communal angle to the pandemic, said police officials.

Since the beginning of the lockdown in the state, Maharashtra Cyber — the cyber crime and cyber security agency of Maharashtra Police — has been tasked to keep a watch on the spread of misinformation, rumours and fake news about Covid-19 on Internet-based platforms, in coordination with cyber crime units in individual police jurisdictions across the state. As on Wednesday, as many as 400 offences have been registered in Maharashtra and 213 persons have been arrested.