Police says, ‘In the interest of their safety and public peace’
\MON, JUNE 8 (MExN): A couple, said to be fortune tellers, have been ordered out of Mon district by the police. The Mon police issued a press release on June 8 informing that the couple identified as Ura Thirupathi and Ura Laxmi were ordered to leave the district in the interest of their safety and public peace.
The husband-wife duo was suspected of “being members of a child kidnapping gang for illegal harvesting of organs, and of being transgender.” The suspicion, allegedly fuelled by unsubstantiated reports circulated on social media, “were found baseless and incorrect,” stated the release while citing findings of a background check of the couple. It cited a “public commotion” at New Site area, Mon town on June 6 reportedly arising from suspicion on the “activities and status of gender of one Smti. Ura Laxmi.” It caught up on social media further escalating the rumours.
Subsequently, the couple was detained by the police and investigation initiated. “A background check into the antecedents and criminal history of the two suspects was made in collaboration with the Police of Karimnagar District (Telangana), to which the two belong.”
According to the investigation, the release said that no existing criminal records were against them. Stating “They are reported to be members of a wandering tribe of Andhra Pradesh, historically engaged in the business of fortune telling,” it added that inquiry into their activities in Mon revealed they have been visiting the district over the last 10 years and earning their living by fortune telling.
“The rumours circulating on social media regarding the suspects being members of a child kidnapping gang for illegal harvesting of organs, and of being transgender, were found baseless and incorrect,” the Mon police said. However, in the interest of peace and the couple’s safety, they were ordered to leave the district “as per the power vested in the Superintendent of Police by Section 22 of The Chin Hills Regulation, No. V of 1896.”
