New Delhi, July 3: After the increasing number of lynching incidents reported in the country over the last few months, the Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called a meeting today to prepare an action plan report against the scaremongering messages on social media platforms WhatsApp. The meeting was held to devise ways to curb such fake messages and to track the miscreants who spread them.

According to a CNN News18 news report, the ministers and the department officials convened in the meeting was held earlier today to discuss the role of the government in controlling the rumours, which have triggered mob violence across the country.

#BREAKING -- IT Minister orders action plan to control spread of WhatsApp rumours. @rsprasad asks officers to find ways to curb fake news. #DeathByWhatsApp | @maryashakil with more details pic.twitter.com/Og5UlE9FHb

 

The recent victims of these fake WhatsApp messages were five people from Maharashtra's Dhule district, who were killed on Sunday on suspicions that they were child lifters. The message about a group of child lifters was doing rounds from last few days in the region. As per reports, it all started when the victims alighted from a state transport corporation bus and tried to make enquiries with a minor girl. On spotting the outsiders speaking to the minor, locals got suspicious. Within minutes, a mob of nearly 250 men armed with sticks and rods surrounded them and began the assault.

Similar incidents of mob lynching were reported in different parts of India in recent times. In May, an elderly woman was lynched in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, two young men from Assam were also lynched after the local Karbi Anglong people suspected they were child lifters.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2018 06:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).