Old robbery-murder video from Delhi shared with misleading communal spin

by Kalim Ahmed

A 2:20 minute-long CCTV clip where two youth are brutally attacked by five assailants is viral on social media as an incident from Delhi’s Sangam Vihar. The video is viral with the claim that the victims are Hindus who were attacked by Muslims.

In the viral CCTV footage, it is visible that the two victims are passing by a narrow lane and five people approach them from behind. They quickly get into a scuffle. Later, one of the accused kicks a victim and hits him with a rock. The same is done by the other accused to the other victim. In the end, we see the accused dump the bodies of the victims in the drain. One of the victims appears to be mobile/alive, and the other seems lifeless.

The video has been shared on Twitter by one Joy Kumar Basak, who has requested people to retweet the video as much as possible.

Another Twitter user Rishi Raj Shanker has also shared the video.

Various other Twitter users have shared this video.

This video is also viral on Facebook with the same claim.

The CCTV video of this incident was also viral in December 2021 with the claim that a Hindu youth was lynched by Muslims.

Old video, false communal spin

We performed a keyword search on Google and came across various news reports on the incident published in December 2021. We also noticed that the viral CCTV footage that is being shared on Twitter has been recorded from a screen using a mobile device. The monitor where the video is being displayed has the full name of the person who possibly recorded the CCTV (Nitin Shukla) and his username on various social media platforms.

Taking this as a clue, we checked the YouTube channel of this user and found the viral bit on a live stream that was done on December 25, 2021. The viral bit appears at the 1:08:14 mark.

As per NDTV, the incident took place in Sangam Vihar on the night of December 20, when the two victims were returning from a friend’s birthday party at around 2 am. They were identified as Pankaj and Jatin.

Speaking to the media, Additional DCP (South) Harsh Vardhan said that it was a case of robbery cum murder and an accused Ramjan Ali was arrested. The search for the other accused was also underway. A video statement made by the police is available on Twitter.

Alt News reached out to SHO Sangam Vihar who told us that the case is 5-6 months old and the police had arrested all the accused at that time. He reiterated that it was a robbery cum murder case and there was no communal angle. The accused hail from both Hindu and Muslim communities.

A statement was given by Delhi police to ANI on December 24 which confirmed the same.

Hence, a five-month-old incident of a robbery cum murder captured on a CCTV camera was shared with the communal spin that a Hindu youth was brutally murdered by Muslims in an incident of hate crime. While the victims were indeed Hindus, the accused belonged to both Hindu and Muslim communities.

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About the Author

Kalim is a journalist with a keen interest in tech, misinformation, culture, etc