Fact Check: Will Mumbai go under Military lockdown for 10 days?

A message that has started circulating around on various social media claims portals claims that the city of Mumbai might go under the state of total lockdown on Saturday, May 9. This lockdown will be a military-enforced one. The message also insists that people must buy groceries as soon as possible as the shops will not be opened for the next 10 days. 

ALSO READ | Fact check: Will Disney Channel shut down in the USA due to Disney+'s popularity?

Mumbai will NOT be going under military lockdown. The message is fake and misleading.

Origin:

The message of Mumbai going under military lockdown began as a Whatsapp forward. It was circulated so much on the app that it became a viral rumour. While some messages claim that only Mumbai will be under military lockdown, some also include Pune lockdown under the army as well. The message claims that it will start on Saturday, May 9. It also mentions how the CM of Maharashtra will give away his control to the army. The most misleading part of the message is the urge of asking people to stock up on groceries and how only milk and medicines will be available. 

(Source: Whatsapp)

ALSO READ | Fact check: Were lionesses spotted in Delhi's Dhaula Kuan area recently?

After this message went viral on Whatsapp, it was also shared by people on Facebook as well. A video of a person announcing how only milk and medicines will be available from May 8 to May 17 began circulating. Here, it is important to note that in the video, the person announcing has not mentioned anything about a military lockdown imposed all over Mumbai. He is just informing people how lockdown is important to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

ALSO READ | Fact Check: Did Air India charge passengers 3x normal fair under Vande Bharat Mission?

Mumbai Police and PIB to the rescue

The official Twitter account of Mumbai Police shared a tweet and called out all the messages about the lockdown as fake and misleading. The Twitter handle is known for its hilarious tweets and smart replies and hence they shared that even though there is free time, people should not use it by spreading rumours. The PIB for Maharashtra state also shared the news on Twitter and shared that it is fake and misleading:

ALSO READ | Fact check: Did Ratan Tata issue an 'only profit is staying alive' statement amid Covid?

As the rumour started spreading, people also started searching for the news on Google. Google Trends shows how the searches reached their peak on May 8 at 4 PM. Below is the graph of searches along with what was searched by people:

ALSO READ | Fact Check: Is the 'Plandemic' Documentary true? Claims from the video debunked

(Source: Google Trends)