Dombivli man on bad terms with neighbours says they have COVID-19

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A 44-year-old man was booked by the Dombivli police for allegedly spreading false information about people contracting the virus in his neighbourhood. However, investigation into the matter revealed that he gave misinformation to the police and was on bad terms with his neighbours, according to a report in Mumbai Mirror.

An official from Vishnu Nagar police station in Dombivli said that they had received a phone call on Saturday afternoon from a man named Sandeep Shinde who told the police that a few children were playing cricket in Sai Dutt Chawl amid lockdown.

A four member police team was sent to the spot. A police officer said, "Shinde started shouting loudly. He told the team that residents of the chawl had been affected by the novel coronavirus and that they should be ordered to home quarantine themselves. When the police made enquiries in the area, they were told that Shinde had threatened to get some of the residents quarantined."

The police officer also said that they found out that Shinde had earlier contacted the tehsildar's office and made a similar false claim.

Once the police team verified that none of the residents had symptoms of the virus, they confronted Shinde and asked him as to why was he not wearing a mask when he was outside his house. The officer said, Shinde told the police that a mask will not be able to prevent the contraction of COVID-19. He said that no matter how much the police worl, several people will fall ill due to the virus and succumb. We have registered an offence against Shinde."

A case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Disaster Management Act 2005 and Epidemics Diseases Act.

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