Govt urges media not play into the hands of rumor-mongers
Jammu, Feb 28: The police today said that some vested interests are trying to communalize the situation to put pressure on the agency investigating the murder of a minor girl in Kathua and “unfortunately some media organizations have also started playing into the hands of such troublemaking elements.”
Reacting to a news report published in a Jammu-based daily today, a spokesman of the Zonal Police Headquarters Jammu said that “as has been misleadingly reported by the said newspaper, no migration has occurred in Hiranagar area and some ladies on the instigation of rumor-mongers and trouble-creators with vested interest had assembled near Higher Secondary School, Kootah and created an unnecessary scene.”
Police said these women, however, returned to their homes on the intervention and assurance of the local administration.
“Unfortunately, some vested interests are desperately trying to polarize the situation in the area around this gruesome criminal act of the murder of an innocent girl,” police said.
Pertinently, police has registered a case (FIR No: 10/2018) in Police Station Hiranagar following the abduction and murder of the minor girl in the area last month.
The case was then transferred to the Crime Branch “which is now investigating it professionally,” police said.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman today urged the media to report in a responsible and constructive manner in such sensitive situations in the spirit of professional ethics.
He said the media organizations must realize that whatever the circumstances, it pays to keep faith with professionalism and ethics.
“We are only playing into the hands of the disruptive elements instead of serving the larger public interest by publicizing such unsubstantiated news reports,” he said, and added that it is extremely unfortunate if some of the reputed media organizations in the state also get into the divisive trap not only at the cost of their own credibility, but at the perilous cost of peace, tranquility and stability in the region.
“Instead of trying to influence the investigation at the behest of trouble-mongers, the media should allow the law and order machinery to work in a dispassionate manner to ensure justice in the case,” he said.
