New Delhi has expressed its serious concern to Islamabad over the elements based in Pakistan using social media networking sites and trying to create a scare among the people from North-East in India. The Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in a telephonic talk with his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik sought full cooperation from Pakistan in checking and neutralising such elements. He said, these elements were misusing social media networking sites to circulate false pictures and stories so as to whip up communal sentiments in India.

Mr. Shinde conveyed his Eid greetings to the Minister and the people of Pakistan and expressed the hope that the occasion would bring an improvement in Indo-Pak relations. This was the first direct contact between the two ministers.

The Union Home Secretary R.K.Singh had earlier said that bulk of the rumours that triggered panic among the people of north-eastern states in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were sourced from Pakistan. The Government has already taken steps to block 74 such websites where morphed images were uploaded from Pakistan. According to a report prepared by the Home Ministery, a Pakistan based hardline group is suspected to be involved in doctoring images and spreading them over social networking sites to whip up communal passions and create panic among the people of north-eastern region living across the country.