Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Muslim delivery driver assaulted in a religious hate crime.
Fact
No communal angle to the incident, the assault was over a personal dispute and a case has been registered.
Several social media users are sharing a 39-second video, claiming that it shows a Muslim delivery driver being brutally assaulted by a group of men. The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
The video has gone viral against the backdrop of Zomato on Tuesday announcing a dedicated fleet with a green dress code intended to exclusively serve orders from “pure veg” restaurants, which will be delivered in distinctive green boxes. Concerns raised over how the colour segregation could lead to discrimination against delivery workers saw Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal issue a clarification on Wednesday. Citing the safety of delivery partners, Goyal stated, “…we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red.”
Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Muslim delivery driver attacked”, which did not throw up any credible news reports about such an incident, as seen in the viral video, recently.
A further search led us to this tweet, dated February 22, 2024, sharing the same video. The tweet stated, “Abhay Pratap, a delivery boy by profession was held hostage, stripped off his clothes and beaten for an altercation that happened a year ago on February 9 in sector 113 of Tricity, Noida.”
Taking a cue from this, we ran a relevant keyword search, which led us to this NDTV report, dated February 22, 2024, on the assault, stating that a man working as a delivery boy in Noida was stripped shirtless and assaulted by a group of men known to him over some personal dispute.
“Both the accused and the victim are known to each other. There was a fight between them on February 9 due to some dispute over some matter. A case was registered on February 9 at Sector-113 police station based on the plaintiff’s complaint,” a police spokesperson reportedly said. Similar reports can be seen here, here and here, identifying the victim as Abhay Pratap, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur and works as a delivery executive at an under-construction building. None of the reports mention a communal angle to the incident.
We also came across these Amar Ujala and Jagran reports on the incident, none of which state that the victim was a Muslim, while reiterating that the accused and Pratap knew each other.
We then reached out to the sector-113 police station, where Naveen Tomar, senior police inspector, confirmed that there was no communal angle to the case.
Also Read: Is The Congress Candidate From Thrissur Campaigning With The Pakistan Flag?
Conclusion
Viral video showing a delivery boy in Noida assaulted by a group of men over a personal dispute given a false communal spin.
Result: False
Sources
NDTV report, February 22, 2024
Jagran report, February 22, 2024
Conversation with Naveen Tomar, senior police inspector, sector-113 police station
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
