Chandigarh, Apr 6 (PTI) In a crackdown on those spreading fake news on social media about coronavirus, the Punjab Police has booked 34 people, arresting four of them.

Confirming it, DGP Dinkar Gupta said in a statement here that police have registered 34 cases so far, of which 27 were lodged between March 21 and April 6.

He said the cases lodged in the past a couple of weeks related to the spread of fake information through WhatsApp.

Police are also taking stern action against attempts to use social media to spread communal strife, he said, adding that a sedition case was registered on Friday against a Ludhiana resident.

The Ludhiana resident had allegedly misled people about the availability of critical medical equipment besides "spreading hatred" against the state government, he said.

The DGP had earlier this month constituted a special team headed by a ADGP-ranked officer to monitor all social media platforms to check any instance of fake news or information.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)