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Bekasi Police arrest hoax news spreader
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Bekasi Police have arrested a suspect for spreading fake news about an attack on an ustadz (Muslim teacher) by people related to the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in North Tambun. (Shutterstock/File)
P
olice in Bekasi, West Java, have arrested a suspect for spreading fake news about an attack on an ustadz (Muslim teacher) by people related to the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in North Tambun.
"We’re questioning one alleged hoax spreader who caused public uproar," said the police chief Sr. Comr. Candra Sukma Kumara, as quoted by kompas.com on Friday
He added that the man reportedly spread the news in the WhatsApp group of his community unit (RW), describing it as a bloody attack using sharp weapons and also linking it to the PKI.
Candra stressed that the news was not true. Two men had indeed visited the ustadz but no sharp weapons were carried by the visitors. According to the police the so-called attackers were beggars who moved from one mosque to another. They were angry at the ustadz because he refused to give them money.
The police hoped people would exercise caution when using social media. To prevent similar incidents in the future the police asked residents to inform them if there was a threat or suspicious activities in their neighborhood, instead of spreading it on social media. (wnd)
