Shimla: At a time when the state government has made e-pass necessary to enter the state, some miscreant has made fake applications for e-pass in the name of former United States of America President Donald Trump and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.
According to the reports, police on Friday received a complaint from the Department of Information Technology Himachal Pradesh, in which it is stated that misinformation being spread on social media and news channel about issuance of wrong e-pass by the District Administration.
Two registrations Bearing Pass No HP2563825 and HP-2563287 have been made in the names of Donald Trumph and Amitabh Bachchan, both having same mobile number and Identity proof as AADHAAR number.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Shimla Mohit Chawla confirmed the report and said police are conducting the investigation. Case under section 419,468,471 IPC 66D IT ACT and 54 DM ACT has been registered in PS East Shimla. He has assured that the accused will be arrested soon.
Due to the massive surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, the state government has imposed a curfew till May 16. The state government has also made e-pass necessary to enter the state from other
Meanwhile, the state government has appealed the general public to avoid such misuse as well as spread of misinformation and rumors regarding the Covid registration portal.
A spokesperson of the State Government said that Covid online registration portal has been put in place, as per State Disaster Management Authority guidelines, to facilitate people entering the State and to apprise local administration about the same so that Covid Protocols could be adhered to.
He said that it has come to the knowledge of this Department that two registrations bearing Passes have been made in the names of Donald Trump and Amitabh Bachchan, both having same mobile number 9882810033.
“Both the registrations seem to have been made with the malafide intention of spreading rumor and misinformation as the particulars entered in both these registrations seem to be fake” he said.
“This is clear from the fact that the same Identity proof has been uploaded by the applicant against both these registrations” he added.
He said that such misuse of the portal completely defeats the dual objective of having a registration system i.e. to enable hassle-free entry of persons into the State and provide real-time information of entrants to the District Administration to enforce Covid protocol for these entrants.
Urban Development and TCP Minister Suresh Bhardwaj and Information Technology Minister Dr. Ram Lal Markanda in a statement said that the State Government has taken all necessary and preventative steps to check spread of this pandemic besides ensuring that the people of the State as well as those visiting the State from other parts of the country do not face any inconvenience due to imposition of the corona curfew.
Bhardwaj and Dr. Markanda said that the State Government has allowed free movement to the State from other parts of the country with few conditions, but at the same time was also ensuring to maintain proper record of those visiting the State
They said that for this, the State Information Technology Department has developed software so that Covid e-pass could be provided to the people visiting the State. They said that for this purpose, these people have to get the names and addresses registered in the software so that their travel history could be tracked and traced.
