No, woman caught with gun in UP is not Muslim

During a search in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri, a 315 bore pistol was found in the possession of a woman. The search was recorded on camera and was carried out by a female constable. Following this, an FIR was registered against the accused woman. The video of this incident is now viral on social media with the claim that her name is Salma Baig and she belongs to the Muslim community.

“UP: Police has caught a Muslim teacher walking around in Mainpuri carrying a pistol in her jeans,” wrote Twitter user @eternalroute. (Archive link)

News24 also tweeted the video, however, without the claim that the woman who was caught hailed from the Muslim community. One Saket (@saket71) quote-tweeted News24 and claimed that a ‘teacher’ named Salma Baig was caught by the police. (Archived Link)

तमंचा और शिक्षिका पढ़ के हमें पहले लगा @Garima1907 जी हैं, फिर पता चला सलमा बेग हैं। https://t.co/oferREXVDI

— saket साकेत ಸಾಕೇತ್ 🇮🇳 (@saket71) April 12, 2022

Apart from this, many people shared this video and claimed the ‘teacher’ to be Muslim. (Archive link)

Fact-check

We performed a Google search using relevant keywords and came across various news reports related to the incident. According to the reports by Aaj Tak, Dainik Bhaskar and Zee News, Kotwali in-charge Anil Kumar told the media that the woman’s name is Karishma Yadav and her deceased father’s name is Puran Singh Yadav. According to Aaj Tak, Karishma alleged that she carries the firearm for her safety since her family members want to kill her and grab her land.

Alt News spoke to Kotwali station in-charge, Anil Singh, who told us that the woman hails from the Hindu community. He further said that a case has been registered and an investigation is underway.

Mainpuri police also informed on Twitter that the woman is not a teacher and the police are investigating how she was in possession of the firearm.

उक्त प्रकरण में जांच उपरांत ज्ञात हुआ कि तमंचा के साथ पकड़ी गई महिला शिक्षिका नही है। तमंचा कहां से लेकर आयी थी ,किस प्रयोजन के लिए लायी थी इस संबंध में थाना कोतवाली में अभियोग पंजीकृत कर जांच की जा रही है।

— MAINPURI POLICE (@mainpuripolice) April 13, 2022

The video was, therefore, shared with a false anti-Muslim spin.