A set of videos are going viral on social media with claims connecting them to alleged attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. The videos are going viral on social media, claiming that migrants in Tamil Nad are being targeted over linguistic divisions. In February, a video showing a person abusing and assaulting Hindi-speaking migrant labourers went viral across social media. The Government Railway Police have traced the accused, Magimaidas, 38, of Villupuram, and arrested him.
As per a Times of India report, Tamil Nadu police booked five people for reportedly spreading false information regarding rumors of attacks on migrant workers in the state.
On March 5, 2023, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin also issued a statement that no harm would come to migrant workers. Stalin had reportedly spoken to Nitish Kumar… and assured him that no harm would come to these “brothers on development.”
Claim:
Twitter user @TanveerPost shared three videos with a caption that reads, “North Indians are being attacked in Tamil Nadu. Hindi-speaking people are being attacked. The government of Bihar, the government of Uttar Pradesh, and the government of Jharkhand all are silent. Such oppression of Hindi-speaking people has never been seen before in India. Attacks are being carried out with swords and other weapons.”
[Trigger Warning: The Logical Indian Fact Check team is not embedding the tweets due to its graphic nature.]
Video 1:
The video shows a man being assaulted by three people with long knives. The victim can be seen running away bleeding and the assaulters walk away from the situation as well. The post is captioned, “The people of Bihar are being attacked by the residents of Tamil Nadu with swords.”
Fact Check:
We isolated the keyframes of the video using InVid’s Keyframe Analysis tool and conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes. We came across a tweet by HateDetectors published on which read,
“A 24-year-old youth Gokul was hacked to death by a four-member gang wearing masks near the Coimbatore court. The deceased, according to the police, was part of a gang that had killed a youth Kurangu Sriram in Dec 21. Sriram was killed by the rival gang for area dominance.”
We searched the relevant keywords and came across a report by the Times of India published on February 14, 2023. This report read, “In Coimbatore, a five-member gang hacked to death a 24- year-old murder accused on a crowded street near the combined court complex in Coimbatore on Monday morning…”
We also came across a report by The Hindu published on February 16, 2023. The report noted that a 24-year-old man was hacked to death near the Combined Court Complex in Gopalapuram on February 13. The deceased was identified as G. Gokul of Kavundampalayam, who was involved in a murder in 2021. A five-member gang assaulted him with machetes when he had come to the court with his friend Manoj (27), who escaped with a cut on his head, police said.
Video 2:
Another video shows a man in a blue shirt stabbing another man while bystanders attempt to stop him. He goes back once but then resumes stabbing. The assaulter also attempts to crush the face of the victim with a rock.
The post is captioned in Hindi, “#तमिलनाडु हिंदी बोले जाने वालो लोगो पर लगातार हमले हो रहा है , बिहार का मजदूर इस बात से बिलकुल अनजान थे उसे ये पता नही था , की इस तरह का कोई भी घटना घट सकता है , बिहारी मजदूर घर से बाहर नहीं निकल पा रहे है , वहा के लोग पहले पूछते है तुम हिंदी हो , और हा बोलने पर उसको हत्या कर दिया जा रहा है , इसे बिहारी मजदूर #मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार से मदद की गुहार लगा रहे है ।.”
[English Translation: In Tamil Nadu, Hindi speaking people are continuously being attacked; the workers of Bihar were completely unaware of this, they did not know that any such incident can happen, Bihari workers are not able to get out of their houses, the people there First they ask are you Hindi, and on saying yes they are being killed, Bihari laborers are requesting help from #Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Fact Check:
Similarly, after a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video we came across a report by the Times of India published on February 19, 2023. The report read, “A lawyer in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur was murdered in broad daylight. Those who killed the lawyer were accused in an accident case in which the lawyer’s son had died. Apart from that, the attackers also had a property dispute with the lawyer. The attackers intercepted the lawyer as he was on his bike and stabbed him multiple times. Thereafter to ensure he died, they crushed him with stones.”
Video 3:
The viral video shows three individuals assaulting a person. One of the assaulters restrains the victim while the other two bludgeon the man with a rod and a sickle. The video was recorded from a moving auto-rickshaw.
The caption reads, “Terrorist attacks are being carried out on Hindi-speaking people in Tamil Nadu. Is that the law is in our country? Sir, legal action should be taken against the terrorists @PMOIndia”
Fact Check:
We came across a report by South First published on January 23, 2023. The report reads, “The investigation into the gruesome murder of a 29-year-old man in broad daylight on 100 Feet Road in Jiyaguda in Hyderabad on Sunday, 22 January, seems to be stalled.”
As per the report, three accused have been identified, namely, Akash, Sai (alias Tillu), and Sandeep.
A Siasat Daily report published on January 23, 2023, noted that Akash, Tillu and Sonu allegedly murdered Sainath, a resident of Esamia Bazar, on the Jiyaguda bypass road near Puranapul under Kulsumpura police station limits.
The police noted that the accused and the 32-year-old deceased were friends. “Preliminary investigations revealed that they were drunk and a fight led to the gruesome killing,” the report adds.
Video 4:
This clip shows four men assaulting a man with an axe and a sickle. The victim takes out a gun during the assault but the attacker takes it from him. The post is captioned, ““A Bihari brother was mercilessly thrashed to death in Tamil Nadu and yet the Nitish government is silent, this government only cares about power.”
Fact Check:
We conducted another reverse image search on the keyframes of this video which led us to a report by The Goan published on August 9, 2021. The report notes that gangster Anwar Shaikh alias ‘Tiger’ was killed at Karatagi Cross, Savanur, Karnataka on August 8, 2021.
“The murder took place at Karatagi Cross at Savanur town in Haveri district of Karnataka at around 5.30 pm where the deceased had gone to recover some money from one Imran Choudhari,” the report says.
As per another Goan news outlet, Herald published on August 11, 2021. The report notes that four persons were arrested for the murder of Anwar Shaikh. The report reads, “Savanur Police arrested all accused allegedly involved in murdering notorious criminal Anwar Shaikh alias ‘Tiger’ at Karatagi Cross, Savanur, Karnataka.
“According to the Savanur Circle PI Devanand Naik, all the accused are brothers. He gave their names as Imran Chowdhary (28), Tanveer Chowdhary (24), Abir Chowdhary (22) and Rehan Chowdhary (20), all residents of Savanur town, Haveri district, Karnataka, “ The report notes that the police suspect that the accused and the victim had rivalry even as the investigation is on.
Tamil Nadu officials refuted the viral claims.
We also came across a video by the Tamil Nadu police published on March 2, 2023. In this video, the police noted that these incidents happened in the past, in Tiruppur and in Coimbatore, and were not related to attacks on migrant workers. As per the Director General of Police, the clip from Tiruppur is connected to a clash between two groups of Bihari migrant workers. Another clip from Coimbatore shows a clash between local Tamil people.
Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair shared several videos of migrant workers residing in Tamil Nadu. These migrant workers flatly denied the claim spreading across social media that a targeted action is being carried out against them.
On March 4th, 2023, journalist Arvind Gunasekhar shared a video on Twitter showing Saroj Kumar Thakur, an IPS officer currently posted as SP of Krishnagiri District. Gunasekhar noted Thakur reassured migrant workers on their safety and dismissed rumors about targeted attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu.
“In the past few days, false rumors have been circulating across news outlets and social media that Hindi-speaking migrants in Tamil Nadu are being targeted. All tweets spreading these rumors have been deleted and action has been commenced against those who spread these rumors,” said Thakur in his statement.
Conclusion:
We found that the videos circulated in context of the alleged attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant laborers in Tamil Nadu are entirely unrelated. The videos show murders committed as part of disagreements and gang wars and not over a linguistic dispute between two states. Additionally, the Tamil Nadu police have dismissed alleged attacks on migrants as false and baseless rumors.
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Fact Check
2023-03-05 09:16:18.0
Do These Videos Show Attacks On Bihari Migrant Workers In Tamil Nadu? No, Viral Videos Are Misleading
