IIT Student Held For Claiming PM Modi Is Giving Away Free Laptops
A viral message on social media falsely claims that Narendra Modi announced free laptops to two crore youth.
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CLAIM
A viral message on social media claims that in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi winning the recent Lok Sabha elections, he has announced that he will give free laptops to two crore youth under the ‘Make in India’ scheme. The message reads:
‘नरेंद्र मोदी के दोबारा प्रधानमंत्री बनने की खुशी में *मेक इन इंडिया* के तहत 2 करोड़ों युवाओं को *मुफ्त लैपटॉप* देने का ऐलान किया है, अभी तक 30 लाख युवा सफलतापूर्वक आवेदन कर चुके हैं अब आपकी बारी है अंतिम तिथि से पहले अपना आवेदन जल्द से जल्द सबमिट करें-http://modi-laptop.wish-karo-yar.tk’
(Translation: In the wake of becoming the Prime Minister again, Narendra Modi has announced he will give free laptops to two crore youth under 'Make in India,’ so far 30 lakh youth have successfully applied for the same. It’s your turn now to apply before the last date. Submit as soon as possible - http://modi-laptop.wish-karo-yar.tk)
Several social media users shared the message on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
The Quint received a query about the claims on the same video via our WhatsApp helpline.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The message has been circulated with a false claim. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not announced any such scheme that would give free laptops to two crore youth. The claim is as dubious as the registration link mentioned in the message.
Team of cyber crime unit has arrested the IIT-postgraduate for running the fake website.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT?
The website mentioned in the viral message is not the official website of the ‘Make in India’ initiative. While the address of the official website is www.makeinindia.com, the website address mentioned in the message is www.modi-laptop.wish-karo-yar.tk.
While registering on the link mentioned in the viral message, the users are asked to fill in details like name, mobile number, age and state.
After submitting the details, the link asks users to answer two questions. The same web page mentions instructions that are grammatically incorrect. The sentence reads: ‘All Information shall be given here Right and Correct if found Misleading Later than Your Insurance Form will be Rejected andy State.’
The two questions that are asked are whether you already have a laptop or not and whether you will tell your friends about this scheme. Irrespective of whether the answer is ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ the link directs the users to a web page which asks them to share the message with 10 groups or friends on WhatsApp.
On the same page, it says the users can obtain the registration number. But when you click on that option, the site again asks you to share the message with 10 groups or friends on WhatsApp.
The website shared in the viral message also has an ‘About Us’ section. In this section, it is clearly mentioned that the website is not affiliated with the Government of India.
The description when translated in English reads: “This website is not affiliated to the Government of India, nor do we collect any information from you and make this website and make people aware of Ayushman Bharat Yojana. National Health Insurance Scheme | Ayushman Bharat Scheme | National Health Insurance Scheme | This scheme will be given to 100 million poor families in India. The National Insurance Scheme used to issue an amount of a lakh but now the amount has been changed to four lakhs.”
Further, a portion of text can be seen at the bottom of the website which mentions information about three secrets to finding the perfect health insurance deal. An excerpt from the message reads: “Top three Secrets to Finding the perfect Health Insurance Deals Presently, it is simply to find health insurance deals in most countries, because a lot of health insurance companies offer purchasers very affordable and advantageous insurance deals.”
This text is same as the one that was there on another viral link on social media. The message around that link claimed that the government is distributing free solar panels to everybody. The Quint had earlier debunked this message and found that the claim was false.
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