Rumourmongers on social networking sites under radar

Chennai: The City Police have placed social networking sites under surveillance to keep a tab on posts spreading rumours on the health condition of the Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

The move comes closely after the City Police had approached the Computer Emergency Response Team, Delhi (CERT) to help make progress in a case related to the controversial post on Jaya’s health published and shared by a French national who goes by the moniker  Tamizachi.

Sources indicated that they had already identified the pages, handles, and profiles of those milling rumours in this regard. “We have identified the miscreants. We are gathering more data and evidence against them to strengthen the case. The data will be collated by the Cyber Crime Wing, which will forward it for further action,” said a senior police official.

When asked as to how many such troublemakers were identified so far, the official refused to give any numbers. However, the official observed that rumours were milling around and there was always a pattern and a motive behind the spreading.

“We are planning to take out the schemers who are working to create panic among the public,” the official warned. Earlier, cops booked the French national for her purported Facebook posts on the Chief MInister’s health condition, following a complaint from the AIADMK's IT wing functionary.
Tamizachi's post on the CM's health condition was widely shared in the social networking site.