Agnipath Protest: Centre Bans 35 WhatsApp Groups For Spreading Fake News

As many as 35 WhatsApp groups were banned by the Centre on ground of spreading fake news against the Agnipath scheme.

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New Delhi: The Government on Sunday banned as many as 35 WhatsApp groups that were allegedly spreading fake news about the recruitment scheme for the armed forces, Agnipath, reported news agency Press Trust of India quoting officials. This move came amid protests against the scheme that turned violent in many different parts of the resulting in vandalism and arson of public properties. 

As many as 35 WhatsApp groups were banned by the government for allegedly spreading fake news about the Agnipath scheme, the government officials stated in the report. 

However, information about these groups or if any action has been initiated against their administrators was not immediately known, the report added further. 

Ruling out the rollback of the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme despite widespread protests, the three services of the military on Sunday came out with a broad schedule of enrolment under the new policy and asserted that it was aimed at bringing down the age profile of the armed forces.

The protests agaisnt the scheme meanwhile continued on Sunday as well as several protestors took out a protest march in Punjab's Rupnagar district blocking vehicular traffic on the Chandigarh-Una National Highway for an hour, the news agency reported 

In Andhra Pradesh, an ex-Armyman was arrested in connection with the violence that took place at the Secunderabad railway station recently and claimed one life. The violence was reportedly instigated by Avula Subba Rao, a retired Armyman who played a crucial role in creating unrest, reported NDTV.