A viral message in the name of Uttar Pradesh police claiming that a month-long mask checking drive will be taken up by the department beginning today, is false.
The Uttar Pradesh police took to Twitter to refute the viral claim.
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The message is being shared in the backdrop of the recent spike in Coronavirus cases in the country. The viral post has the emblem of Uttar Pradesh police with a Hindi message under it.
The text in Hindi translates to 'From 9 am tomorrow, a 30-day-long mask checking drive will begin under all police station limits of Uttar Pradesh. Everyone should wear mask to avoid being fined or be jailed temporarily for ten hours. Issued by Uttar Pradesh police'.
(Hindi: कल प्रातः 9 बजे से उत्तर प्रदेश के सभी थाना क्षेत्रों में मास्क चैकिंग का 30 दिनों का अभियान चलेगा सभी शहर एवं ग्रामवासी *मास्क का प्रयोग करें और चालान की कार्यवाही से बचें और साथ ही 10 घंटे की अस्थाई कारावास (जेल) सजा से भी बचे।_ निवेदक - उत्तर प्रदेश पुलिस जनहित में जारी)
View the post below and click here for its archived version.
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The message has been shared from several Facebook pages.
Fact Check
BOOM checked the verified Twitter handle of Uttar Pradesh police for more details about the said mask checking drive.
A tweet from the police department had refuted the viral claim calling it fake.
The tweet in Hindi, translates to 'No such 30 day massk checking drive is being initiated by the Uttar Pradesh police as claimed in the message. No such message has been shared. Don't pay attention to such misleading information. Proper legal action will be taken against anyone spreading such misleading information'.
It must be noted that as of February 26, 2020 Uttar Pradesh ranks 7th among those states which have over 2,80,000 confirmed cases of COVID 19. As of now, there are 6,03232 confirmed cases in the state.
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