China has once again put a stop to online discussions about its army's losses in the face-off with India

The Chinese police have arrested a man for spreading “rumours” on social media that poor quality of military vehicles caused the death of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers during the Galwan Valley standoff in June.

The Dongfeng Off-road Vehicle Co. Ltd, according to a report in The Economic Times, filed a police complaint about the online post by a Zhou after learning that he had posted “rumours” on his WeChat Moments. He claimed that internal corruption in the company led to the poor quality of its military vehicles, resulting in the casualties of Chinese soldiers on the China-India border. The netizen was arrested on August 4.

It is worth noting that China has not released figures for the casualties its army suffered in the clash with Indian troops on the night of June 15. The Indian Army had confirmed that 20 of its personnel had been killed in action.

The Economic Times report said Zhou confessed to his crime of rumour-mongering, showed remorse and wrote an apology letter. “I fabricated rumours about corruption of individual personnel of the Dongfeng off-road vehicle company, resulting in poor quality of military vehicles provided, and finally causing soldiers to die in the frontline at the China-India border and return of 5,000 military vehicles,” the letter stated.

The Economic Times highlights that the company in question has been engaged in research and development, and manufacturing of high-mobility off-road vehicles for military operations for many years.

The report added that China’s internet firewalls immediately block online posts about the PLA and quoted observers saying this particular one may have been publicized on official to serve as a warning to others.

Read the full report in The Economic Times