On Friday, Delhi Police called out Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Parvesh Verma for "malicious intent to spread rumour". However, Delhi Police deleted the tweet later.
Verma had tweeted a video of a group of men offering namaz on the roadside. The BJP leader said that the namaz is being offered while is lockdown has been enforced due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and that social distancing has gone for a toss. He also claimed that such acts will stop if Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cuts the salaries of Maulvis.
After the video went viral, DCP East Delhi called out the BJP MP. He said, "This is totally false. An old video is being used with a malicious intent to spread the rumour. Please verify before posting and spreading rumours."
Here is the now-deleted tweet:
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Sanjay Singh said, "The BJP leader (Verma) should be ashamed that he is spreading rumours and hate even in these times.”
Many on Twitter also slammed Delhi Police for their "double standards". A Twitter user wrote, "Delhi police has been clarifying on the said video since last 4 days but the only tweet deleted by @DCPEastDelhi was the one replied to BJP MP Parvesh Verma's tweet. @HMOIndia should seek answer from @CPDelhi. It's a matter of concern. Why such double standard by Delhi police?"
Here are some of the Twitter reactions:
The total COVID-19 cases in Delhi are 8,895 and the death toll has reached 123 on Friday.
