288 people dead, and 1000 were injured in the recent train accident in Balasore district of Odisha, where the Shalimar Chennai Coromandel Express (12841) en route to Chennai from Shalimar, West Bengal, met with an accident. The CBI has now taken over the investigation and is probing the cause of the accident.
Claim:
A video of a minor boy being scolded by some railway gangman for placing stones on a railway track is doing round on social media. Several stones placed on the railway track can be seen in the foreground. Gangman is a person who looks after the maintenance of railway tracks. While giving this video a communal spin, people claimed that the video was recently shot in Karnataka and alleged that people of the Muslim community used their children for train derailments.
A verified Twitter user shared this video and wrote, “Shocking: Another #TrainAccident Averted. An underage boy was caught sabotaging the railway Track this time in #Karnataka. We have tens of thousands of Kms of railway tracks and forget adults now even kids are being used for sabotaging and causing deaths. This is a serious issue. Please look into this @AshwiniVaishnaw @RailMinIndia @RailwaySeva.”
Another user wrote, “This video is from Karnataka… Such kids are being used by the Jihadis to cause derailment….#TrainAcciden #TrainTragedy.”
Times Now also shared this video quoting Arun Pudur’s tweet. However, they did not mention whether the viral video was old or not.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral video is from 2018, where a minor boy was playing with stones near Kalaburagi railway tracks.
During the initial investigation, we did a google reverse image search using the InVid tool, which led us to a Facebook post dated back to 2018 in which same video can be seen. The caption of the video reads, “This is how trains are derailed and people die and we blame the Railways and the Govt….. these are breaking India forces … and Indians who are working against fellow Indians ….very shameful to see” It suggest that the video is not recent but is at least 5 years old.
On observing the viral video carefully, we found that the gangman and the boy in the video were speaking in Kannada. It establishes that the viral video is somewhere from Karnataka.
Fact-checking website BOOM contacted Bidar Railway Police, and Raichur Railway Police, who told them that the viral incident is from 2018 and this place comes under Wadi Railway Police Station.
Taking a hint from it, we contacted Mahmood Pasha, PSI, Wadi Railway Police Station, who confirmed to us that the viral video was from 2018. “The viral video is from 2018. Children from nearby slums were playing near the track by placing stones on it. We did not file any cases against the kids as there was no intention to cause any harm to the trains. The lads were reprimanded by railway gangmen who were present at the scene and let them off without any complaints.”
Fact Checking website ALT News also spoke to Raichur Railways circle inspector Ravi Kumar who also refuted the viral claim. “The viral video is from 2018, children seen in the video are from nearby slums and had placed stones on the railway tracks, after which trackmen caught them,” he mentioned.
Conclusion:
Our investigation shows that the viral video is almost 5 years old. The viral video is from Karnataka and has nothing to do with the recent Odisha train accident. Also, according to the Wadi Railway police, the kids were no intention to cause any harm to the train. Hence, the viral claim is false.
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Fact Check
2023-06-08 10:30:12.0
5 Year Old Video Of Minor Caught Placing Stones On Railway Track Viral With Fake Claim
