Fact Check: Viral Message of ’30-Day Mask Checking Campaign’ Is Falsely Attributed to Uttarakhand Police

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A fake message attributed to Uttarakhand Police is going viral on social media. It has been claimed that a 30-day special mask checking campaign will be carried out by the police in the entire Uttarakhand.

Vishvas News investigated the viral posts and found that this message has gone viral earlier as well falsely attributing to UP Police. The viral message is fake. No such 30-day campaign of mask checking is being carried out by Uttarakhand Police.

Claim

Facebook user Pankaj Verma AAP wrote in a post, claiming: “From 9 am today, a 30-day campaign for mask checking will run in all the police stations of Uttarakhand. People of all cities and villages will use masks and avoid challan proceedings as well as a 10-hour jail sentence. Released in the public interest by Uttarakhand Police.”

This Facebook post was uploaded on February 28, 2021. The archived version of the post can be seen here.

Investigation

Vishvas News searched using appropriate keywords on Google. We didn’t find any report regarding the 30-day special campaign. However, we found a report stating that it is mandatory to wear a mask. and the fine will be imposed if caught without a mask. Not only this, a penalty will be imposed for throwing the mask outside the dustbin and on the streets. Jagran.com published news related to the same on February 25, 2021.

We searched the social media account of the Uttarakhand Police and found a tweet on the official Twitter handle of the Uttarakhand Police. In a tweet made on February 27, the Uttarakhand Police debunked the viral message calling it as fake.

उत्तराखंड पुलिस द्वारा मास्क चेकिंग का 30 दिन का ऐसा कोई भी अभियान नही चलाया जा रहा है, और न ही ऐसी कोई सूचना प्रसारित की गई है।
अतः ऐसी भ्रामक खबरों पर ध्यान न दें, जो भी इस प्रकार की भ्रामकता फैलायेगा, उसके विरुद्ध आवश्यक विधिक कार्यवाही की जाएगी।#UKPAgainstFakeNews pic.twitter.com/iZBcEpsNEz

— Uttarakhand Police (@uttarakhandcops) February 27, 2021

Vishvas News also contacted Dainik Jagran’s Dehradun office. The Crime Reporter of Dainik Jagran, Soban Singh Gusain, spoke to Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand where he said that no such 30-day operation of mask checking is being carried out by Uttarakhand Police nor any such information has been circulated. He further said that one should not pay attention to such misleading news, whoever spreads such fake news, legal action will be taken against them.

We scanned the profile of Facebook user Pankaj Verma who shared the viral post. We found that the user is based out of Rishikesh.

Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated the viral post and found that the message regarding the 30-day campaign of mask checking by Uttarakhand Police is fake.

Tags

• Fact Check
• Uttarakhand