Video Of Violence In Dhaba In Chhattisgarh Shared With False Communal Narrative

A video is making rounds on social media, claiming that a violence by local youth against a Dhaba owner and his brother was all-Muslim led, and that the police hasn't taken any action against them to not escalate the matter. The text along with the video also claims that crime has reached such an extent in Chhattisgarh that the Congress government there and the police have no control over it.

The video shows a huge group of people near a highway dhaba, 'Hamara Dhaba'. A mob damaging the place, shouting, beating up people, and running away in the end of the video. It was shared with a message:

"दुर्ग/राजनांदगांव (छत्तीसगढ़)

मुस्लिम समुदाय के 15-17 युवक 22 मई 2022 की सुबह चाय पीने हमारा ढ़ाबा नामक होटल / ढाबे (हाईवे रोड़ दुर्ग-राजनांदगांव) पर चाय पीने पहुचे, चाय पीने के बाद पैसे देने से मना करने लगे व कहने लगे पैसा नही है ढ़ाबे के संचालक द्वारा पैसे मागें जाने व फ्री मे चाय नही देने पर लड़ाई- झगड़ा कर पैसे देते हुए मुस्लिम युवक चले गये परंतु कुछ ही देर बाद राजनांदगांव के युगांतर स्कुल के पास स्थित मजार से तकरीबन 250 मुस्लमान युवक हाथों मे चाकु, तलवार, धारदार हथियार, डंडे व अन्य हथियार ले कर ढ़ाबे पर हमला कर दिया, ढाबे पर पत्थरबाजी कर ढाबे के कर्मचारी को मारा व हत्या करने के उद्देश्य से ढाबा संचालक व उसके भाई को चाकुओं से मारा उनकी हालत अभी नाजुक बनी हुई है, इन सबके बीच छत्तीसगढ़ पुलिस ने अभी तक FIR नही लिखा है वो दंगे/ मारपीट व हत्या का प्रयास करने वालों से समझौते कराने मे लगी रही, पुलिस का कहना था मामले कही और न बढ़ जाये।।आपको बता दें छत्तीसगढ़ राज्य में अभी काँग्रेस की सरकार है और अपराध अपने चरम पर पहुंच चुका है सरकार व पुलिस का अपराध पर कोई नियंत्रण नही रहा है।। यही है इस्लाम की खुबसूरती"

[Rough Translation: 'Durg/Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) 15-17 youths of the Muslim community came to 'Hamara Dhaba' (Highway Road Durg-Rajnandgaon) to drink tea on the morning of 22 May 2022, and refused to give money after that. After the manager asked for it again, and did not give them the tea for free, the Muslim youths fought, and reluctantly gave the money and left. After some time, about 250 Muslim youth from the nearby Mazhar, located near the Yugantar school of Rajnandgaon, came holding knives, swords and sharp weapons. They attacked the dhaba by pelting stones and attacked the dhaba operator and his brother with knives, with the intention to kill. Their condition is still critical. Amidst all this, the Chhattisgarh Police has not yet filed an FIR. Police is engaged in negotiating with those who attempted murder, the police said that the matter should not escalate. Let us tell you that there is a Congress government in the state of Chhattisgarh and crime has reached its peak, the government and police have no control over crime. This is the beauty of Islam']

The Logical Indian Fact Check team also received this to be verified on our WhatsApp number +916364000343

It is also being shared on Twitter, Facebook, and circulated on WhatsApp.

Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh,

Mob of 200-300 Mohamedans lynched Deepak Bihari, owner of a Dhaba after attending Urs at a Dargah..

They lynched him for he asked them to pay for the tea they had.

Just 5% of them & this is what they did pic.twitter.com/c1qkc2EoHm

— Ritu #सत्यसाधक (@RituRathaur) May 23, 2022

दुर्ग/राजनांदगांव (छत्तीसगढ़)

मुस्लिम समुदाय के 15-17 युवक 22 मई 2022 की सुबह चाय पीने हमारा ढ़ाबा नामक होटल/ढाबे (हाईवे रोड़ दुर्ग-राजनांदगांव) पर चाय पीने पहुचे, चाय पीने के बाद पैसे देने से मना करने लगे व कहने लगे पैसा नही है ढ़ाबे के संचालक द्वारा पैसे मागें जाने व १/२ pic.twitter.com/IZduPROrCc

— Nida (@nidais4you) May 24, 2022

Claim:

A Muslim mob fought and beat up two Dhaba owners in Rajnandgaon over a small argument, and the police had not taken any action against them to not escalate things.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian verified the viral WhatsApp forward and found it to be misleading.

We started by using InVid and taking stills of the video, and we then reverse searched a keyframe on Google. We were led to various news websites like ABPLive, ETVBharat, and Bhilai Times which covered this incident from May 22, 2022. We confirmed that the video was indeed from Chhattisgarh, specifically from the Highway near Durg and Rajnandgaon. The media reports also confirmed that a fight had broken out between a mob and the people at the Dhaba, including the owners, which had led to the owners getting severely injured. However, there was no mention of the mob consisting of only Muslim youth. The reports also stated that the police had filed FIRs and the case was under investigation.

छत्तीसगढ़ के राजनांदगांव जिले में 20 से 25 अज्ञात लोगों ने जमकर तोडफोड़ कर आगजनी की है.#Chhattisgarh #Rajnandgaonhttps://t.co/NQPimWZ7oD

— ABP News (@ABPNews) May 23, 2022

There were inconsistencies in the different reports and the viral claim, so The Logical Indian decided to contact the City SP of Rajnandgaon, Gaurav Rai, and ask him about the details of the incident. He stated, "Not all of the members of the mob were Muslim, there were Hindus too, and there is no Hindu-Muslim angle to this. Two people, on a bike, were going back to the city from the Urs festival, and due to a sudden overtaking by a vehicle, the bike got disbalanced, and they hit a truck that was stationary on the side of the road near the Dhaba. Those two had to go to the hospital, but a lot of their known persons, comprising both Hindus and Muslims, created the ruckus at the Dhaba because the driver of the truck was there. The shouting and arguments increased, which escalated to the full fledged fight. The Dhaba owners tried to talk them out of the fight, but the arguments got heated up and they got injured too. We have filed FIRs against the 12-15 people involved."

We also spoke to the Addl SP of Rajnandgaon, Sanjay Mahadeva, who repeated the incident's happenings and said that the people started beating up the truck driver, who was just sitting at the Dhaba, and not even in the truck, and when the Dhaba owners tried stopping it, they were beaten up too. He also said, "Five people have already been arrested, 2 Hindus and 3 Muslims, and further investigation is still going on." He also mentioned that there was no communal angle to this, and it was a regular crime. Rajnandgaon Police has also published a press release on the same.

थाना सोमनी क्षेत्र के ढ़ाबा में हुये मारपीट, बलवा, हत्या के प्रयास के 05 आरोपी गिरफ्तार ।@CG_Police @cgdial112@santoshSinghIPS @RajnandgaonDist#rajnandgaonpolice pic.twitter.com/8jgzVrKkc5

— Rajnandgaon Police (@policerjn) May 23, 2022

The viral claim being shared on social media has been found to be misleading by The Logical Indian Fact Check team. It added a communal narrative to the incident in Rajnandgaon, where a fight broke out at a highway Dhaba which left multiple people injured, and people claimed that it was a mob composed solely of Muslims. After verification, it was found that there was no communal angle, as the mob had people of both religious communities, and that it was due to an accident on the road which led to a fight that escalated immensely.

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: Cannes Film Festival And Cannes Film Market Are Not The Same! Media Misreports