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An image of five policemen with an arrested youth in chains is being shared on Facebook with the claim that the youth who questioned farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal was caught.
The post with the image claims that the arrested youth questioned farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal after which he was arrested.
Newschecker received this claim on its Whatsapp verification number as well.
A Facebook user shared the photograph in context with the caption (translated from Punjabi to English), “A youth who questioned farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal was caught today.”
The user has now deleted the post.
Also read: Video Of Old Man Falling To The Ground At Farmers’ Protest Site Shared With Misleading Claims
Fact Check/ Verification
Through a relevant Google search we found the photograph in context in a Twitter post by the official account of Ferozepur police. Their caption reads, “The police team of Ghallkhurd Police Station of Ferozepur police has solved the murder case in a few hours and arrested the accused. #PunjabPoliceIndia”
Ferozepur police uploaded this post on their official Facebook page as well.
Additionally, we found a news report by ABP Live Punjabi which stated that a man was murdered by being thrown into a canal for money laundering.
As per this 26 February report, Niranjan Singh has been identified as the deceased. He is “the son of Lakhvir Singh of Vada Bhaika village in Ferozepur. Police have arrested Sukhdeep Singh Wada Bhaika in the case.”
The news report includes a statement by Police Officer Abhinav Chouhan who said that “Sandeep Singh, son of late Lakhveer Singh has recorded a statement that his father was a driver of a horse trolley in village Dod, district Faridkot. Accused Sukhdeep Singh was also the assistant driver.”
The incident occurred around 2 pm when Surjit Singh told his father, Lakhveer Singh, to go and settle accounts with the owner of the trolley, reads the report.
Police have registered a case under Section 320 of the IPC and the accused is under arrest.
Newschecker reached out to Inspector Abhinav Chouhan to verify the claim as well as the contents of the ABP Live news report.
Chouhan clarified that the claim posted on social media about the accused questioning farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal is false. However, the ABP news report covering the incident is true.
“He’s under arrest and sent to judicial custody. He was arrested same day and he was under police remand for three days after that sent to jail,” added Chouhan in response to a question about the status of the accused.
You can read about this claim in our Punjabi fact-check as well.
Conclusion
Our research makes it clear that the social media post connecting the accused from a murder case to farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal is false. The man in the image is accused of a murder case in Ferozepur.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources
Ferozepur police Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ferozepurpolice/status/1365292415326687235?s=20
Ferozepur police Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ferozepurpolice/posts/954440561627593
ABP Live Punjabi: https://punjabi.abplive.com/news/punjab/man-thrown-in-river-died-reason-behind-death-was-money-lending-614963
Inspector Abhinav Chouhan: http://ferozepurpolice.org/display.php?id=83
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