Aurangabad Car Accident Shared as Hindus Thrashed in Delhi Arson

A police official confirmed to us that there was no communal narrative to the incident that happened in Aurangabad.

A viral video falsely claimed that men entered the bus and started beating Hindus in Delhi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The violence inflicted by pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters and anti-CAA protesters in Jafrabad-Maujpur on Sunday, 23 February, spread across northeast Delhi district on Monday, 24 February, with areas including Bhajanpura, Chandbagh among others.

CLAIM

Now, a video showing a man sporting a skull cap entering a bus and beating the driver is doing the rounds on social media. As per the claim along with the video, Hindus are being beaten, abused, their vehicles are being stopped and are being forced to go out of their vehicles.

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(An archived version of the tweet can be seen here.)

The video is being shared on Facebook with the same claim.

WHAT’S THE TRUTH?

We searched on Google using keywords “bus driver beaten” and found an article published by ABP Majha on 18 February with the headline, when translated in English, “Bus Driver Beaten | Bus driver thrashed after car not given space to pass.” The article mentioned that the incident took place in Kannad in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad.

A keyword search led us to an article published by ABP Majha.

The article carries the same video as the one that is viral on social media. We also found an article published by The Times of India on 21 February with the headline, “18 booked for assaulting bus driver, conductor.”

According to the article, the incident took place near Hotel Amrapali on the Aurangabad-Nashik road when a bus “scrapped” a car after overtaking it. The bus driver, identified as Sudhakar Shamrao Shirsath, was assaulted by the suspects who were in the car.

Speaking to The Quint, Inspector of Kannad City Police Station, Rameshwar Renge, said that there is no communal angle to the incident and it was a case of overtaking. He also said that as opposed to the news report, six people were arrested in connection with the incident.

“The two parties involved didn’t know each other and it was only a matter of overtaking. We filed an FIR under the relevant sections of the IPC and arrested six people,” he added.

Clearly, an incident that took place in Maharashtra is now being shared with the claim that it happened in Delhi with a false communal context attached to it.

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