Bihar Police sends preservation notice to Facebook, YouTube for investigation in ‘migrant labourer’ issue

Patna (Bihar) [India], March 6 (ANI): The miscreants involved in making the post viral related to the alleged ‘attack’ on the Bihar migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu will be taken to task and arrested for spreading rumours, a top police official said on Monday.

The police said that they have also asked social media platforms including YouTube to save the link of the posts the miscreants shared, in case of deletion in the future, to further help in the investigation.

“Those miscreants who have made the post and shared the post for rumours will be arrested. Police are going to take strict action against them. A 10-member team is doing the investigations,” Jitendra Singh Gangwar, ADG Police Headquarters said in a press conference.

“We have sent preservation notices to Facebook, Youtube and Gmail under which all these service providers are directed to save the links with them for about three months so that thorough investigation is done in case someone deletes it,” he added.

The official stressed that the video which went viral was made “deliberately”.

“The video was made deliberately to sway the public with propaganda. There could have been worse situations arising because of this video. A DSP and 4 members are currently in Tamil Nadu,” the police official said.

He further assured that there will be a conducive environment for those travelling back to the state from somewhere else.

“Discussions are being done among the police officers, administration and industry officers. The Bihar police will ensure that law and order is in place, those travelling home in Holi are safe & there is not an environment of fear,” the ADG said.

Meanwhile, amid the row over alleged ‘attacks’ over Bihar migrant workers, Tamil Nadu Minister for Labour Welfare and Skill Development CV Ganesan on Monday said that the state government is in the middle of a process of conducting a census of the migrant labourers.

The Minister stressed that the migrant labourers are safe in the state, stating that this has been conveyed to the 4-member team from Bihar which had visited Tamil Nadu to gather information about the alleged incidents of ‘attack’.

“Tamil Nadu Govt is in process of collecting a census of migrant labours. Migrant workers in Tamil Nadu are safe, they themselves told this to the team that came to Tamil Nadu on behalf of govt from Bihar,” Ganesan said in a press conference.

He further said that the MK Stalin-led government has taken steps to make sure that the migrant labourers from across the country are safe.

“The Tamil Nadu government has been actively taking steps to ensure the safety of migrant labourers. A Census of Migrant workers is ongoing in every district. There are approximately 6 lakh Migrant workers in Tamil Nadu,” the Minister said.

Earlier on Saturday, a 4-member team from Bihar reached Chennai and participated in a meeting with Chennai District Collector, Commissioner of Tamil Nadu Labour Department and other government officials in connection with the matter.

The Bihar government had sent the team to the Southern state after reports of alleged attacks on the migrant labourers surfaced.

“Four of us came from the Bihar government to meet the senior officials of the Tamil Nadu government. People from Bihar were working in Tamil Nadu. We have come to assure them that the Bihar government is for their welfare. We are getting all the support and cooperation from the Tamil Nadu government,” Balamurugan, IAS, Secretary of Rural Development Department, Bihar earlier said.

Speaking to ANI, Mukesh, Secretary, Bihar Association, Tamil Nadu, said that they have not found any “reality” in the calls that they received of the alleged attacks in Tamil Nadu.

“A 4-member team had come from Bihar to gather information regarding the ongoing rumour that the people from Bihar and Hindi-speaking people are being beaten by the Tamils. The video has gone viral. The parents are scared. We gave the team information. I get 150-200 calls per day. We visit the spot after getting the call and assess the situation and try to ascertain the facts. We cannot inform the police immediately after receiving the call unless we check the reality behind the calls. We have visited around 10 to 15 places so far, there was no reality in the claims. It is completely fake news,” he said.

Stating that such incidents of attacks did not take place in the state, the official said that Tamil Nadu is the “safest place” for migrant workers.

He said that they have urged the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government to not let any such news be broadcast “until the authenticity” is ascertained.

The four-member team included D Balamurugan, Secretary, Rural Development, P Kanan, IPS (IG CID), Shree Alok, Special Secretary, Labour Department and an IPS officer will submit a report to the Bihar chief minister after their visit.

Meanwhile, amid pressure from the Opposition over alleged attacks in Tamil Nadu of migrant workers from Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that a four-member team will visit the southern State to take stock of the situation.

“As soon as I got to know through newspapers, I directed officials to look into the matter. They talked with the Tamil Nadu government and reported that a team should be sent from here,” Nitish Kumar said, adding that the four-member team will look into the matter in detail.

Kumar last week, raised concerns after a purported video of “attacks” on Bihar-based migrant labourers, working in Tamil Nadu surfaced on social media.