Man booked for seeking oxygen support on social media in Uttar Pradesh

A man from Amethi has been booked for allegedly circulating a rumour with the intent to cause fear over oxygen supply The man Shashank Yadav had appealed for an oxygen cylinder for his grandfather on TwitterIn his tweet Yadav had not mentioned whether his grandfather had Covid19 His grandfather later died of a heart attack Yadav had sent an SOS on Monday evening tagging actor Sonu Sood asking for his helpYadavs friend Ankit shared the message and sought help from journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani She posted a tweet a few hours later asking for help for Yadavs grandfather Sherwani also tagged Union minister and Amethi MP Smriti Irani in the postNone of these messages however mentioned that Yadav sought an oxygen cylinder for a Covid19 patient Shortly after the tweet Smriti Irani responded saying she had called Yadav multiple times but was not able to reach him Irani said she had asked the district magistrate and the Amethi police to follow upAfter a while Yadavs grandfather passed away Smriti Irani expressed her condolences saying Kept calling his number we all did including CMO Amethi policeI just wish he had picked up his phoneOn Tuesday afternoon Amethi district magistrate Arun Kumar responded to Sherwanis original tweet and shared the Chief Medical Officers report that said Yadavs grandfather did not have Covid19 but was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in DurgapurLater that evening police responded to Yadavs tweet and said that the 88yearold man did not have Covid19 but died of a heart attack At this time it is not only condemnable but also a legal offence to post such type of feargenerating posts on social media the Amethi Police saidSuperintendent of Police SP Dinesh Kumar said the person has been booked for spreading rumour on social media about oxygen scarcity He further added that the arrest is an important message for those who are spreading wrong information amid the Covid19 pandemicWhen his grandfather fell ill Yadav wrote on Twitter that an oxygen cylinder is required tagging actor Sonu Sood He neither enquired for an oxygen cylinder nor was his grandfather a Covid positive patient the SP saidShashank Yadav could not be contacted for his versionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever