Police on Friday said a social media post that claimed that 25 to 30 people with fever and cough died in their homes in the Taltala area of central Calcutta was fake.

The post, which was circulated over the past days, mentioned the names and addresses of those it claimed had died and also the names of those who purportedly tested positive for Covid-19.

“The police have been asked not to patrol that area unnecessarily. The cops of that region are trembling in corona fear but are not speaking up to protect their jobs,” said the post in Bengali.

The post went on to claim that residents of the locality were terrified and the news had been kept under wraps. “Bhayanak paristhiti (dangerous situation),” the post said.

“We have started a case for fake news. A probe is on,” city police commissioner Anuj Sharma told Metro.

Fake posts on social media have been a pain point for the state government since the outbreak of Covid-19. On Wednesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said the state government was keeping tabs on all such posts and urged those who were spreading them to start appreciating the good work of the frontline soldiers in the battle against the contagion, such as police, and doctors, nurses and other health workers.

“Manush ke please ekhon hostile korben na, manush ke bibhranto korben na (Don’t make people hostile. Don't mislead people),” Mamata had said responding to fake news. “Instead, try to spread awareness.”

On Friday, senior officers at Lalbazar said the cyber crime wing had started a probe into the origin of the post on the “deaths in Taltala”.

A team of officers has started visiting the addresses mentioned in the post and speaking to the family members to find out whether the claims were true or not.

“Some of them have denied any corona death in their family,” an officer in the detective department said.

“We have taken up the probe at the highest level. All statements will be recorded and medical records will be collected to corroborate each of our findings in regard to everyone named in the post,” the officer said.

On Thursday, the police had arrested two men for allegedly circulating a clip of a Covid-19-related conversation that police said contained “motivated and exaggerated” information.

Naveen Kumar Poddar, one of the men in the conversation, has been accused of giving a “fake, motivated and exaggerated view” of the death of one of his friends during a telephone talk with Rajiv Sharma, alias Pappu.

Sharma was arrested for allegedly recording the conversation and circulating the clip on social media. A case was registered at Burtolla police station, in north Calcutta, on Thursday, after which both accused were questioned for hours and arrested.

The duo were booked under sections that deal with intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, circulating rumours with the intention to create fear and alarm in public, provocation for causing rioting, common intention and sections of the Disaster Management Act.