A __red herring__ is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion.
A red herring may be used intentionally, as in mystery fiction or as part of rhetorical strategies (e.g., in politics), or may be used in argumentation inadvertently - wikipedia 
In the mystery novel ''A Study in Scarlet'', the detective Sherlock Holmes examines a clue which is later revealed to be intentionally misleading.
The term was popularized in 1807 by English Polemic William Cobbett, who told a story of having used a kipper to divert and distract hounds from chasing a rabbit.
# See also - Red Herring (in Hindi)