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Amit Malviya, head of BJP’s National Information & Technology Department (IT cell) tweeted a video of the tragic incident in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur, where a speeding car ran over devotees taking part in the immersion of Durga idol. The incident has reportedly killed one person and injured 17 people.
Soon after the incident on October 15, Malviya shared the video on Twitter, claiming “communal profiling and assault on Hindus” in Chhattisgarh, one of the few states where Congress holds a clear majority.
Contrary to the claim made by the head of BJP’s IT cell, Newchecker found that Malviya’s claim of a communal angle into the incident was not true.
The 25-second-long video shared by Malviya garnered close to three lakh views and over four thousand shares in less than 24 hours. An archived link to his tweet can be accessed here.
The video was also widely shared on Facebook by pro-BJP groups and pages, echoing the claim made by Malviya.
The video has been viewed over 30,000 times each on a page called ‘India Against Anti-Nationals’ and a group called ‘India with MODI.’
Malviya’s post comes at a time when social media is flooded with images and videos of Durga pandals and religious structures across Bangladesh being vandalized.
Factcheck/Verification
On researching more, Newschecker came across Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel’s tweet, where he said that the accused – Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Sahu- have been arrested and announced a compensation of 50 lakh for the deceased.
The accused are reportedly residents of Madhya Pradesh who were passing through Chhattisgarh, they ran over a procession in Pathalgaon town in Jashpur on October 15.
Speaking to Newschecker, Pratibha Pandey, Additional SP of Jashpur said, “Two FIRs have been registered in Pathalgaon police station under IPC sections 302, 304 and also the NDPS act.” More investigation is underway, she added.
Ritesh Kumar Agrawal, the Collector and DM of Jashpur told Newschecker, “There is no communal motive to the incident. This is a law and order issue and an accident. Some people are using this for political gains. The two accused were travelling through Chhattisgarh to MP. They were carrying drugs with them. They seem to have acted out of panic and run over the crowd.”
According to media reports, the two accused were driving to MP when the car initially knocked down one person, but in a state of panic, the driver tried to flee, mowing down the devotees on the road.
Conclusion:
A tragic incident of a car running over a religious procession was falsely shared by Amit Malviya with a communal angle.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources:
Tweet by Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bagel
ANI’s updates on the incident
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