Mumbai, The cyber cell of the Maharashtra Police has booked 78 people for attempting to misuse the "PM's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund" (PM-CARES Fund) by floating fake identities on social media, and spreading communal hatred through fake news.

They had been booked for various cyber crimes, including attempting to spread communal hatred in the name of Covid-19, giving a religious tone to coronavirus and misguiding people on the PM-CARES Fund, said an official said here on Saturday.

Against the official "pmcares@sbi", some scamsters floated fraudulent IDs, like pmcarefund@sbi, pm.care@sbi, pmcare@sbi, pncare@sbi, pncares@sbi pmcares@pnb, intended to misguide the people donating to the official fund.

"We request all to note down the official identity (pmcares@sbi) and make their donations only through that, and beware of all other fake identities," said the official.

Keeping an eye on the goings-on on social media, like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp, the sleuths have booked other persons for spreading misinformation on the coronavirus pandemic, posting fake videos, messages and information.

Nine people have been booked in Nashik, Mumbai (8), Pune (7), Satara (6), Beed (5), Thane, Nagpur, Kolhapur (4 each), Gondiya, Bhandara, Jalgaon (3 each), and Solapur, Sindhudurg (2 each).

Two others have also been booked for spreading malicious content intended to give communal overtones to the Covid-19 pandemic, and averted a potential law and order problem in the city.

Some others in Nashik's Malegaon have been booked for trying to give a religious tint to the coronavirus pandemic, which could have sparked off disturbances in this minority-dominated town.

The police appealed people not to post such fake content on social media and warned defaulters of strict action.