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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Public catches three Rohingya Muslims accused of kidnapping children by posing as sadhus in Meerut.
Fact
The ascetics are from the Hindu Nath sect and were assaulted on the suspicion of being Muslim child kidnappers, which was later found to be false by the police.
Several social media users are circulating a video, claiming that it shows three Rohingya Muslims — purportedly named Mohammed Shamim, Altab and Zubair — caught after posing as sadhus in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. According to the claims, the three were child kidnappers who regularly did a recce of Hindu localities in the guise of sadhus.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact Check
Newschecker noticed the Hindi text reading, “Sudarshan Uttar Pradesh”, following which we ran a relevant keyword search, which led us to the same video shared on Youtube, dated July 13, 2024. “Public caught 3 people roaming around as Sadhus in Meerut…,” read the headline, translated from Hindi. The same video was posted by the official X account of Sudarshan News Uttar Pradesh on July 13, 2024, insinuating that the three were Muslims posing as sadhus.
We saw that the Meerut Police responded to the tweet on July 13, 2024, stating that the information was false. “Police reached the spot and brought the three sadhus to the police station. On enquiry, it was found that all three are residents of Yamunanagar (Haryana) and are sadhus/fakirs who belong to the Nath community and do the work of begging,” read the post, translated from Hindi.
A further search led us to this Telegraph India report, dated July 15, 2024, stating that three people were arrested for assaulting as many sadhus in Meerut on the suspicion of being child kidnappers.
“The young sadhus belong to the Nath sect of which Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the mahant of the Gorakhnath temple, is a member. They roam across the country and preach the teachings of Guru Gorakhnath,” read the report, which then quoted Ayush Vikram Singh, superintendent of police of Meerut city, who reportedly said, “The attackers said Sunil Kumar, one of the sadhus, had the Aadhaar card of a child called Sameer. They got suspicious and attacked the sadhus and then handed them over to the police. During the inquiry, we found that the sadhus were genuine and we released them.”
The other two sadhus were identified as Gaurav Kumar and Gopi Nath. They all hail from Jagadhari village in Yamunanagar district of Haryana, according to the report. Similar reports can be seen here, here and here, confirming that the three Hindu ascetics were falsely branded as criminals and were assaulted on the suspicion of being Muslim child kidnappers. The Meerut Police had also put out a clarification by the Superintendent of Police, Meerut City, on X on July 14, 2024.
Also Read: Pro-India Chants At Republican Convention in US? No, Viral Video Of JD Vance Is Altered
Conclusion
Video goes viral with false communal claim that three Rohingya Muslims were caught for posing as sadhus to kidnap children.
Result: False
Sources
X post, Meerut Police, July 14, 2024
X post, Meerut Police, July 13, 2024
Telegraph India report, July 15, 2024
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form. Follow our WhatsApp channel for more updates.
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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
