Fake Whatsapp news claiming ’22 deaths’ kept Madhya Pradesh police on toes

BHOPAL: Fake accident stories on social media have become a major concern for the Madhya Pradesh even as on Wednesday a report on “22 deaths in road accident near Budhni” kept them on toes for several hours.
The report which came along with a picture of dead bodies scattered on a road, had gone viral on Whatsapp and other social networking sites with people sending it forward from one group to the other seeking confirmation.
The fake report said, as many as 22 people died and 33 were injured in a head-on collision between two passenger buses near Budhni in Sehore district.
The local media, Budhni police and corporators conducted a search and made several calls to get more details about the said mishap.
The sub divisional magistrate (SDM) of Budhni had even alerted the revenue and police officials after he got inquiries from media and other people in the region.
“There was a message about major accident making rounds in the social media, it’s fake,” SDM Brijesh Saxena told media.
The photos of accidents on social media have been found to be of an old accident case in some other locality.