Counter fake videos with factual narratives: Bihar team

COIMBATORE: Industrial bodies in Coimbatore have urged the four-member government team from Bihar to create awareness among families of migrant workers on the fake attack videos.

“Migrant workers are leaving Coimbatore due to fear triggered by spread of fake videos and information on social media. Though migrant workers are convinced after awareness created by industrial bodies employing them, their panicked parents and families in hometowns were unaware of the peaceful situation here and are insisting the workers return home as a precaution. Therefore, the Bihar government should sensitise the people there on the issue,” said J James, a coordinator for Federation of Coimbatore Industrial Associations.

Assuring to consider their request, the fact finding team led by D Balamurugan, secretary, Rural Development, P Kannan, IG-CID, Alok Kumar, special secretary, Labour Department and Superintendent of Police Santhosh Kumar also requested the industrial bodies to circulate on social media, the videos of migrant workers employed in safe environment in Tamil Nadu.

The team members also sought the state government to create a database of migrant workers in Coimbatore and across Tamil Nadu. After assessing the ground reality by interacting with migrant workers in Tirupur and Coimbatore districts, Balamurugan, secretary, Rural Development, said that they were satisfied with the safety measures taken up by the Tamil Nadu government for migrant workers.

They also participated in a meeting chaired by Coimbatore Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati along with police officials to know the safety measures taken for the guest workers.

Meanwhile, a similar team constituted by the Jharkhand government arrived in Tirupur and inspected textile firms, where Jharkhand natives were staying in large numbers and interacted with them.

TN police team in Bihar to nab hatemonger

In a further development, a special team of police from Coimbatore has been camping in Bihar on a hunt for a hatemonger, who posted fake videos of violence, intending to trigger unrest among migrant workers in Tamil Nadu.

The Coimbatore cybercrime police have booked one Yuvaraj Singh from Bihar for circulating fake videos of attacks on guest workers from other states in Tamil Nadu. On the directions of Coimbatore city police Commissioner V Balakrishnan, a team led by an Assistant Commissioner has rushed to Bihar. “The team has been camping in Bihar and a search is on jointly with police from the other state for the culprit,” said a senior cop.