Fact-check: Police action against illegal construction in Kanpur falsely given communal twist - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
1st November 2022 / 3:09 pm
Twitter user @IRONMONK002 recently shared a purported video from Kanpur of a group of policemen beating two people with sticks and lathis on the terrace of a building. Two bulldozers are also seen in the video. Sharing the visuals, the user wrote, “Some jihadis (a pejorative term used by the Right Wing for Muslims) pelted stones at Hindus and the police from their terrace in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. After this, some brave cops sneaked onto the terrace, taught them a lesson with their fists and lathis, and also got the building demolished.” (Archived link)
छत पर कुटाई वाली कार्रवाई और नीचे सङक पर बुलङोजर वाली कार्रवाई
UP के कानपुर में कुछ जेहादी ने छत से हिन्दुओं और पुलिस पर पथराव किया। इसके बाद कुछ बहादुर पुलिस ने बिना सीढी ही छत पर जाकर पकड़ लिया और घूंसे लाठियां बरसा कर उनकी दिवाली हैप्पी कर दी ,और बिल्डिंग भी तोड़ दिया 😇😇 pic.twitter.com/pYII0ujyGG
— ɨʀօռʍօռᏦ 002 🚩🇮🇳 (@IRONMONK002) October 26, 2022
A user named Vishnu Mishra also made the same claim while sharing the clip. Mishra also praised Yogi Adityanath and the swift action taken by the police. (Archived link)
*यह वीडियो देखकर आनंदित हो जाओगे,*
*छत पर कुटाई वाली कार्रवाई और नीचे सङक पर बुलङोजर वाली कार्रवाई* 🤪😂
बाबा जी महाराज का अद्भुत न्याय,,🤷🏻‍♂️
यूपी के कानपुर में कुछ जेहादी 🐖 मुल्लों ने छत से हिन्दुओं और पुलिस पर पथराव किया।इसके बाद कुछ बहादुर पुलिस ने बिना सीढी ही छत पर जाकर सुअरो pic.twitter.com/Sg8RVVLHQH
— VISHNU MISHRA (@VISHNUK35030487) October 26, 2022
The viral video is also being shared widely on Facebook with the same claim. A page titled ‘Sangathit Hindu‘ also amplified it.
Alt News performed a keyword search and located the source video posted on Twitter by journalists Priya Singh and Gyanendra Shukla. In the information provided with the video, the incident is described as one in which two youths who pelted stones at the police were beaten up by cops. Also, it has been described as a video of Kanpur Dehat. Sharing two videos of the incident, Gyanendra Shukla wrote, “While the police were carrying out a court order to remove Malikchand, who had been forcibly squatting on Satyadev’s land, the former’s sons threw stones at them. After many were injured, the police taught the boys a lesson. An incident from Kanpur Dehat.”
सत्यदेव के मकान पर जबरन काबिज मलिकचंद के कब्जे को हटाने के कोर्ट के आदेश के पालन के दौरान मलिकचंद के बेटों ने पुलिस पर पत्थर फेंके कई जख्मी हुए तो फिर पुलिस ने रौद्र रूप धरकर सबक सिखाया, कानपुर देहात का मामला pic.twitter.com/tUWiJBrLIm
— gyanendra shukla (@gyanu999) October 20, 2022
We also came across an October 20 report by Dainik Bhaskar covering the incident. It also carried a screenshot of the viral video. According to the report, “On the orders of the court in the Bhognipur police station area in Kanpur Dehat, a team had arrived to demolish a house. Two youths pelted stones at the team members that had come there to carry out the mandated action. The police sent both to jail after registering a case under several sections of the IPC including obstruction of government duties.
Nowhere in the report has the incident been described as communal. As far as the land dispute is concerned, it has been reported that two youths were beaten up for pelting stones at the police who went to demolish a home that was illegally constructed. It is important to note here that Motilal’s full name is listed as Manikchand Shankhwar.
The Dainik Bhaskar report identifies the two youths beaten up by the police as Sameer and Karthik. It states that the land dispute between Satyadev and Motilal was being heard at a court in a locality of Kanpur Dehat. After a lengthy trial, the court ruled in favor of Satyadev, directing the police to demolish the illegally constructed house built on the land. Following the court’s directive, the police arrived there with a bulldozer. Meanwhile, Sameer and Karthik started throwing bricks and stones from the terrace of the house, seriously injuring a young bystander. A few policemen were also injured. Following this, the stone-pelting duo was taken into custody by the police.
On October 18, police issued a statement on the matter. It mentions that the police officers who went to remove the illegal construction were attacked with stones. Furthermore, the stone-pelters were taken into judicial custody and sent to jail.
#Kanpurdehatpolice थाना भोगनीपुर क्षेत्र के कस्बा पुखरायां में हुयी घटना के सम्बंध में क्षेत्राधिकारी भोगनीपुर द्वारा दी गयी बाइट। pic.twitter.com/kuV0SiF9el
— Kanpur Dehat Police (@kanpurdehatpol) October 18, 2022
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Aaj Tak published a ground report covering the incident on October 19. This report also includes a statement by Motilal, whose house was bulldozed. Along with this, there is also the statement of Amin Mukesh Mishra who claims that the court ordered the demolition of Motilal’s illegal construction.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TAf-UVWgqw]
To sum it up, an unrelated video of police action on stone-pelters from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Dehat area was falsely circulated as cops teaching a lesson to Muslim stone-pelters. In reality, the officers were following court orders and sent there to demolish an illegal construction.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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