Fact check: Video of car running over people from Jashpur passed off with communal spin
A 24-second-long video of a speeding car mowing down people, has gone on social media with a claim that it is a second such instance of assault on Hindus.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 17 Oct 2021 10:38 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A 24-second-long video of a speeding car mowing down people, has gone on social media with a claim that it is a second such instance of assault on Hindus.
Amit Malviya, head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell, shared the video with a caption on Twitter, that reads: "A speeding vehicle runs over a Hindu religious procession in Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, without any provocation whatsoever. This is the second such instance of communal profiling and assault on Hindus while CM @bhupeshbaghel is busy helping the Gandhi siblings find political ground in UP."
The same has been shared by many Facebook users.
Fact Check:
Using InVid, NewsMeter extracted keyframes from the video and conducted a Google reverse image search. We found multiple media reports such as the one from India Today on the incident. According to the reports, the accused in the case have been arrested. The incident happened in Pathalgaon's Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh when a speeding car rammed into a procession of Durga Puja devotees who were on their way to immerse the idol of goddess Durga.
The locals went to the police station and alleged that the vehicle was filled with ganja. One person died and sixteen others were admitted to the hospital with injuries.
"They have been identified as 21-year-old Bablu Vishwakarma and 26-year-old Shishupal Sahu. They were residents of Madhya Pradesh and they were passing through Chhattisgarh when the incident occurred," reads the report.
As per The Indian Express, "The others in the procession chased and stopped the vehicle, before damaging its windshield and windows."
Further, we found a report in The Hindu that read, "The car was being driven by drug traffickers, who were hauling drugs from Odisha to Madhya Pradesh, Ajay Yadav, IG, Jashpur told media persons."
As per the Quint reports the Jashpur Police arrested Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Sahu, according to ANI. An FIR has been registered under Sections 302 (murder) and 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Pathalgaon SHO said.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel in his tweet said the incident is sad and heartbreaking. He said that the accused were immediately arrested and prima facie action has also been taken against the police officers who have been found guilty.
Therefore, the incident did take place in Pathalgaon of Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, but it has been circulating with a false communal spin, as the two accused are from the Hindu community.
