Fact-check: Punjab police did not issue warning about missing children hoax
Punjab’s Home Department and police have not released any such statement
Updated Thursday May 11 2023
Social media posts are circulating an image which falsely claims that the Punjab’s Home Department has appealed to the public to not fall for a dangerous hoax involving young children in the province.
Claim
On May 4, a Facebook user shared an image, which read: “Important notice. Home Department Punjab. From all the police stations to the citizens.”
The post states that people could come across young children on the streets who claim to be missing persons. These children will be carrying an address of their homes, it adds.
“Do not take them [children] to the given address as people will be waiting to kill you,” the image read, “Instead take them to the nearest police station.”
The claim has also been shared widely on WhatsApp, where people have kept it as their status.
Fact
Punjab’s Home Department, which is tasked with the maintenance of law and order in the province, has not released the statement.
“We haven’t issued any such instructions,” Shakeel Ahmad Mian, the additional chief secretary of the home department, told Geo Fact Check via WhatsApp.
Geo Fact Check also reached out to the Punjab police for a confirmation, as the image being circulated carried the Punjab police logo.
“This post is not ours,” Mubashir Hassan, the director public relations of Punjab’s Inspector General of Police, told Geo Fact Check also via WhatsApp.
Later the Punjab police issued a statement on its social media account stating that the image circulating had not been released by them. It further added that it will be taking legal action against those spreading the fake image.
Additional reporting by Muhammad Binyameen Iqbal
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