On Wednesday, Maharashtra Police, in a stern reaction on Bandra chaos, has arrested ABP Majha reporter Rahul Kulkarni for allegedly spreading a false report that said railway services will resume ferrying stranded labourers back to their home from April 14.
Kulkarni incidentally had reported, "Due to the Lockdown, special public trains will run for stranded workers", as the headline reads.
He has been booked under section 269, 270, 505(b), and 117 of IPC and under section 3 of The Epidemic Disease Act.
Speaking to news laundry Kulkarni claimed his report was based on a circular, issued by the office of Chief Commercial Manager, "Ministery of Railways" and aired at 9 am, "much before the Prime Minister's address", and he "was not aware" of the 11:30 am report.
Even though, the circular talked about the restoration of railway services but gave no specific mention of date and time or period. The circular was issued on April 13 by Telangana's office of Chief Commercial Manager.
On Tuesday, thousands around proletarians thronged at a bus depot near Bandra railway station, apparently due to rumour about playing of special trains. Police lathi-charged the 1000- around strong congregation that had descended upon Mumbai's Bandra on Tuesday to disperse and filed FIR at Bandra police station against at least 70 anonymous in defiance of the lockdown norms.
Apart from FIR against Kulkarni, one more person whose social media post reportedly called for a nationwide protest, if arrangements to send migrant workers were not made, has been booked. The person hails from Navi Mumbai.
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