Videos from UP and Paraguay linked to minor's death in Jharkhand's Hazaribag - Alt News
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11th February 2022 / 10:20 pm / Last updated: 11th February 2022
[Disclaimer: Violent content. The video has not been added or linked in this report.]
On February 6, a 17-year-old boy was killed in a clash between members of two communities in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district. Hazaribag superintendent of police (SP) Manoj Ratan Chothe told Hindustan Times, “We have arrested the four accused, including one Aslam alias Pappu.” He added, “There is no communal angle in the incident and it’s not a case of mob lynching. As per the initial investigation, the incident was related to a fight this group had with the boy in their college.” HT reported that internet services have been shut in four districts of Jharkhand in order to de-escalate tensions between the two communities.
Subsequently, an extremely violent video is being shared with the claim that it shows the minor’s murder. A user tweeted this video and wrote, “Brutal killing of #RupeshPandey is very disturbing. Is this Bharat or Islamic state.”
This video is 30 seconds long. In the first 20 seconds, a Muslim mob assaults a man on a bike and shortly after drags him inside a warehouse. People of varied age groups can be spotted in the video. This segment of the video has the logo of Sudarshan News.
The last 10 seconds of the video shows a man being beheaded. Unlike the opening 20-seconds, this doesn’t have the Sudarshan News logo.
Alt News has received several requests to fact-check this claim on our WhatsApp helpline number (+91 76000 11160).
The viral video has been manufactured by merging two videos. They are not related to the Jharkhand murder.
Video 1: Muslim mob beating and dragging a man inside a warehouse
The first 20 seconds of the viral video are from May 2021. Back then, it was shared with the false claim that the video is from West Bengal. Alt News debunked the video and found that it is from Uttar Pradesh. Bhopa police station SHO Dheeraj Singh confirmed that the video is from his jurisdiction.
In May 2021, Amar Ujala, Dainik Jagran and Hindustan reported that a lineman from Sikri, Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh was indeed beaten up by some locals. But he did not die.
We also found that Muzaffarnagar police replied to a tweet that posted the video with the misleading claim.
थाना भोपा पुलिस द्वारा 07 नामजद व 10-12 अज्ञात अभियुक्तों के विरुद्ध सुसंगत धाराओं में अभियोग पंजीकृत किया गया है। अभियुक्तों की शीघ्र गिरफ्तारी की जाएगी, स्थानीय पुलिस द्वारा अन्य विधिक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।
— MUZAFFARNAGAR POLICE (@muzafarnagarpol) May 5, 2021
Video 2: Beheading
Alt News performed a reverse image search on the frame that appears at the 21-second mark (included in the claim section) in the viral video. We found the video is from San Pedro de Ycuamandyyú Regional Jail Pedro in Paraguay. It was reported by UK-based Daily Mail and Spain-based Periodista Digital in 2019.
As per the reports, the video allegedly shows members of the Primer Comando da Capital, a Brazil-based criminal organisation, dismembering an associate of another group in the Paraguayan jail cell. The incident left 10 inmates dead and 15 injured.
Alt News reached out to investigating officer Saurabh Ahuja at Bahri police station overseeing the Jharkhand incident. He confirmed that the video in question was not related to the murder in Jharkhand.
Furthermore, we spoke with a regional reporter, who shared the FIR (view PDF) filed by the family members of the minor on the requested anonymity. Using the FIR, we contacted a member of the victim’s family. Over a telephonic conversation, he confirmed that the viral video is not related to the incident. It is worth noting that the family members allege that boy was killed in a case of mob lynching and communal violence.
To sum it up, after the murder of a minor from the Hindu community in Jharkhand, an unrelated video that shows two incidents — one from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Paraguay — was shared with a false claim that it shows the boy’s killing.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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