Overview
- India’s Press Information Bureau said on March 7 that posts about creating a new Union Territory near the Siliguri Corridor are fake.
- The government stated that no proposal to form a new Union Territory in the area is under consideration.
- Viral messages named Bihar’s Purnea, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar, and West Bengal’s Malda and Uttar Dinajpur as the districts to be merged.
- Some posts linked the rumour to Home Minister Amit Shah’s Seemanchal visit and to an alleged parliamentary whip, claims not supported by officials.
- The corridor is the narrow land link to the Northeast, a sensitivity that helped the false claim spread, and PIB urged people to rely on official sources before sharing.