Delhi: Sunday night panic; Police got 1,880 SOS calls, most in West

On Sunday, residents of Khyala and Rajouri Garden made several calls to police after rumours went around that a mob was in the area. Soon, DCP (West) Deepak Purohit and senior officers went and met residents. In a tweet, Purohit also urged people to not panic over false rumours.

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In Southeast Delhi, 413 calls were made, most from Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar. Residents complained there were reports of firing in the area after they heard news about violence in West Delhi.

DCP (South) Atul Kumar Thakur and local police also met residents in areas under their jurisdiction to control the situation.

From Northeast Delhi, where riots took place last week, only two distress calls were made.

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Police said they have identified a few people who spread the rumours Sunday. One person, Abhishek Shukla (24), was arrested Monday by the Cyber Crime Cell for spreading rumours about riots in West Delhi’s Nihal Vihar. Police said he has over 10,000 followers on social media and was using it to spread rumours.

A Delhi Police spokesperson said, “We have arrested over 40 people — 21 from Northwest Delhi, 18 from South Delhi, 3 from Southeast and one from Rohini. We are also closely monitoring social media accounts spreading fake news and rumours.”