A set of two viral videos showing persons being attacked and tortured is being widely circulated across social media. The videos are viral with the claim that members of the right-wing outfit Bajrang Dal are assaulting people on the Sonipat-Panipat Highway.
Claim:
Video 1:
The video shows three men beating a person with rods. These people hit the man on his arms and lower body parts. A woman can be heard asking why they’re attacking him, and a man beating the person responds.
Twitter user Anuma Acharya shared the viral video claiming, “This video is being told near Sonepat, and the killers are being told of Bajrang Dal. It’s a gruesome scene. Why doesn’t someone catch and take action? At least verify the location. Wherever it is happening in broad daylight, there is a stigma on law and order.”
Fact Check:
We used InVid’s Keyframe Analysis Tool to isolate the keyframes from the viral video and then conducted a reverse image search on the keyframe. This threw up a report by ETV Bharat published on February 20, 2023, which noted that the video is from Jagatpura village of Sunam block of Sangrur district and the victim’s name is Sonu. The report does not mention the Bajrang Dal.
According to an Indian Express report published on February 21, 2023, the police identified the victim as Sonu Kumar and the arrested accused as Kuldeep Singh. Reportedly, the other five accused, including a woman, were at large, identifying them as Mani Singh, Malkit Kaur, Lavi Singh, Amrik Singh and Gopal Singh, also from the same village.
Punjab’s Sangrur district police on February 19 arrested one of the six people booked for beating up a 37-year-old man over personal enmity.
The report also notes that Sonu was travelling on his motorcycle along with his son, Buta Singh, 18, to bring a geyser from his father, Gurcharan Singh’s house. They were attacked when they reached Bajigar Basti, where the mother of one of the accused urged people to attack Sonu.
Claim:
The second video shows two persons holding the victim and chopping the fingers of his left hand. The fingers are pulled apart as the victim screams in pain. The video is being shared on WhatsApp with the claim that Bajrang Dal members are killing people on the Sonipat-Panipat highway.
Fact Check:
We conducted a keyword search with the terms’ chopping off fingers’ and came across an Indian Express report published on February 25, 2023. The Indian Express report notes the incident occurred on February 8, and an FIR was registered the next day. As per the report, it was an alleged act of revenge for a murder that had occurred six months ago. The incident took place in Mohali, Punjab.
We also came across a statement by Deputy superintendent of police (city-1) Harinder Singh Mann on the Twitter handle of SAS Nagar Police posted on February 24, 2023. The caption reads, “The victim and the accused had old enmity. Two accused have been identified.They will nabbed soon. All are requested to not spread rumours.”
SP Mann, in his video statement, says that on February 9, a few individuals mutilated the fingers of a youth, after which the victim was taken to the hospital where he was being treated. He also adds that an FIR was registered, and raids are being conducted to catch the absconding suspects.
After searching through Twitter, we came across an update posted by journalist Nikhil Choudhary on February 25, 2023. The tweet is captioned, “Mohali police caught two members of Bhuppi Rana gang Gaurav Sharma alias Gauri and Tarun during an encounter at Shambhu border, 1 gangster was shot in the leg. Both are the main culprits in the finger chopping incident in Monali: Sandeep Garg, SSP Mohali”
SSP Sandeep Garg identifies the accused as Gaurav Sharma alias Gauri and Tarun, who were apprehended during an encounter at the Shambhu border for allegedly being involved in the finger chopping incident in Monali.
A report by The Tribune confirmed these details. The report notes that Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sandeep Garg has identified the main accused as Yadwinder Singh, alias Ghoda, alias Vicky, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar, Kharar.
Conclusion:
We found that the viral videos do not show members of the Bajrang Dal assaulting people on the Sonipat-Panipat highway. The two video clips are from Punjab and are entirely unrelated to the Bajrang Dal. In both cases, the accused have been arrested; hence, the viral claim is false.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
Also Read: Old Videos Viral As Attack On Hindi-Speaking Migrants In Tamil Nadu
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Fact Check
2023-03-10 10:47:57.0
No, These Videos Don’t Show Bajrang Dal Members Assaulting People On Sonipat-Panipat Highway
