Kochi: A barrage of abusive social media posts targeting the late Malayala Manorama special correspondent Jijo John Puthezheth and his family has triggered police action, with the government ordering stringent action against those responsible.

Describing the incident as a reprehensible and cruel cyberattack, Chief Minister V D Satheesan directed the police to take stringent action against those responsible. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the Cyber Wing IG had been directed to register cases, investigate the posts and take necessary action. Cases have been registered in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, and investigations are under way.

Police track 3,000 abusive posts
Police have so far identified around 3,000 social media posts abusing Jijo and his family, ADGP P Vijayan said.The posts are being verified to establish whether they originated from genuine accounts, following which the users responsible will be traced and stringent action taken.

Chennithala condemned the targeting of a journalist and his surviving family members over news reports he had filed, calling it inhuman that they should face such abuse even after his death. He said stringent legal action would be taken against those responsible and that such attempts at character assassination would not be allowed.

The police registered cases on complaints filed by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) state committee, the Ernakulam Press Club and others.

Meanwhile, Satheesan visited Jijo’s home at Gothuruthu in Paravur on Friday and consoled his wife Ramya and children Ananya and Johan.