Bihar Migrant Workers Attack: Tamil Nadu Police Book BJP Leader Prashant Umrao For Spreading Fake News

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Police has taken strict action against the spreading of fake news about a reported attack on migrant workers from Bihar in the state. The police, on Saturday (March 4) booked BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Umrao, a Dainik Bhaskar Editor, and a Patna-based journalist Mohammad Tanvir for spreading fake news on social media which triggered a statewide panic. The panic affected the industries in Tamil Nadu, which rely on migrant workers, as many workers stayed off work as per PTI.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, on Thursday (March 2), expressed worries and acknowledged the alleged videos of "assaults". Kumar instructed the chief secretary and DGP of the state to communicate with authorities in the Tamil Nadu government and guarantee the security of workers originating from Bihar.

Tamil Nadu's Director General of Police, Sylendra Babu, released a statement, saying that the video doing rounds of social media was "false" and "mischievous". He stated that somebody in Bihar posted false and mischievous videos saying that migrant workers were attacked in Tamil Nadu. Two videos were posted, both of which were false as these incidents happened at an earlier date in Tiruppur and Coimbatore. One was a clash between two groups of migrant workers from Bihar while another was from a clash between two local residents in Coimbatore.

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Sunday said that North Indian workers need not panic as the state government is committed to providing them security.

"The North Indian labourers in Tamil Nadu not to panic and feel insecure, as the people of Tamil Nadu are very nice and friendly, and the state government is committed to providing them security," Governor RN Ravi said.