'Fake messages' claim coaching centres in Mukherjee Nagar being shut, case filed

The Delhi Police has registered a case after "fake messages" and a "doctored" video claiming that it is shutting down coaching centres in the national capital's Mukherjee Nagar area went viral on social media, triggering panic, officials said on Wednesday. The video purportedly showing a Delhi Police official instructing students to not stay in Mukherjee Nagar between December 24 and January 2 due to critical law and order situation in the city had gone viral on social media platforms days ago, they said.

A "fake" notice from station house officer, Mukherjee Nagar, claiming that coaching centres and paying guest (PG) accommodations in the area were being shut down was also circulated in social media groups, according to police. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya said a case has been registered against unidentified persons in the matter.

"We have registered a case in connection with the fake messages being circulated on social media and are also writing to social media platforms to remove the video as it has been edited so as to place it out of context," she said. In the viral video, the officer is purportedly telling people that PGs, libraries, coaching centres and restaurants in Mukherjee Nagar will be shut from December 24 evening to January 2. In the video, he advises students to book tickets and leave for their homes, considering it their winter break.

The officer is also heard telling the crowd that the law and order situation is critical in Delhi, section 144 of the Criminal Penal Code has been imposed and warns of severe action against those who would create any kind of nuisance. Arya, however, said that no such direction has been issued by police and it is a doctored video. She also appealed to students not to believe such rumours.

Students from across the country come to Mukherjee Nagar every year to prepare for various competitive exams. Avnish, a representative of a coaching centre in GTB Nagar, claimed that two days ago, two constables from Mukherjee Nagar police station had come to his office and instructed that no classes be conducted from December 24 to January 2.

"The policemen told us that we can operate our office but citing some issue, they asked us to not conduct any classes between December 24 and January 2. We had anyway suspended classes due to Christmas vacation," he said. A civil services aspirant, who is enrolled in a coaching centre in Mukherjee Nagar, said some of his friends had been asked to vacate their PGs.

"We were informed by the coaching centre that classes will not be conducted between December 24 and January 2 due to winter break. Later, some of my friends approached me for temporary accommodation, saying they were being instructed to vacate their PGs and hostels following a notice regarding closure of coaching centres," the student said, requesting anonymity. Another student said his PG's caretaker asked him to vacate the accommodation on Tuesday morning citing a police order.

"We were not served food on Tuesday morning. When I and my roommate went to enquire about it, the caretaker informed us that the PG will remain closed till January 2 as per police order. "I asked him to show proof and he showed me a notice on a Delhi Police letterhead. I don't know the authenticity of the notice but since Tuesday we have been getting food from outside," the student, who hails from Pune and did not wish to be named, said.

According to another student, the classes have been suspended since December 24 and usually such information is shared on the coaching centre's Facebook page, but nothing was said this time. "Our coaching classes were suspended from December 24 to January 2 without citing any reason," the student said, requesting anonymity.

National president of Swaraj India, Yogender Yadav, took to Twitter to counter Delhi Police. "Now, Delhi Police is saying that all these are rumours. If so, then why don't you go to Mukherjee Nagar and assure students that they need not vacate and that coaching centres will not be shut," he tweeted in Hindi.