Bizarre rumours trigger panic in TS districts

Khammam/Nalgonda/Warangal: Rumours that if the people slept on Wednesday night they would die spread fast in Khammam, Nalgonda, Warangal and Krishna districts on Thursday. They forced residents to go sleepless, after moving out of their houses and staying on roads/roadsides.

On Tuesday midnight and Wednesday there were rumours in Nizamabad, Adilabad, Medak and Karimnagar districts of tremors and quakes occurring in Nizamabad and Adilabad district. They had originated from cell phone calls. Residents panicked and rushed out their houses and stayed awake. Many had slept outside their houses.

On Thursday the rumours in Warangal were outrageous claims on the birth of a bizarre baby, forcing thousands of villagers to spend sleepless night. They claimed that a girl with multiple heads was born in Warangal, that she had spoken soon after and that those who sleep in the night would die.

Panicked at this crazy gossip, terrified residents forced their children to stay awake in view of the girl’s caution. The rumours were mainly spread in tribal mandals like Kuravi and Maripeda and in Dornakal of Mahabubabad, Narsampet, Mulugu, Eturunagaram. They affected both educated and unlettered alike.

Rumours were also spread almost like a wild fire about occurrence of an earthquake and tremors, though none was sure where and when. Exchange of telephone calls and SMSs among relatives and friends asking one another to stay outdoors added to people’s agony.

Lella Kalidas, Rural SP, appealed to the people not to believed in rumours. He said they were the handiwork of miscreants, who intended to create panic. ‘It is sad to see that people were so taken in by such baseless rumours even in 21st century. It is an unhealthy thing.’ Meanwhile, the Jana Vigana Vedika, Warangal unit, appealed to the people not to over-react to rumours. Vedika local vice-president Dr D Prabhakarachary, senior assistant professor of chemistry, KITS, said ‘there could be malicious intentions behind such acts’.

‘I have received calls from my relatives in Thorrur and I told them not to panic,’ he told The Hans India. Same was the experience of a social worker and teacher V Gurunadha Rao of Mahabubabad, who received several calls past midnight, from people inquiring about the rumours ‘Some miscreants have been spreading the rumours by means of cell phone messages and calls. It is strange that even educated people were influenced by them’, he lamented.