Does This Video Show a Muslim Man 'Luring' Hindu Girls in Chamoli? No!

The police confirmed that the incident had no communal angle to it.

Fact-Check | The claim of the accused in the case being a Muslim is false.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a person carrying what appears to be a wooden stick and apprehending a man for allegedly "luring" schoolgirls into his room is going viral on the internet as a recent incident from Uttarakhand's Chamoli.

What's the claim?: An X (formerly Twitter) premium handle shared the clip claiming that the accused was a Muslim, who was luring Hindu girls into his room. Later, he was caught by the local Hindus.

• The location was identified as Karanprayag in Chamoli.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The post had gained over nine lakh views on the platform. More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: The viral claim is false.

• We spoke to Karanprayag Station House Officer (SHO), Rakesh Chandra Bhatt, who confirmed to us that the incident had no communal angle to the incident.

• He identified the accused as one 'Arjun Kumar'.

How did we find that out?: We went through the official X handle of Chamoli Police Uttarakhand and found a clarification that was shared on 13 August.

• The post carried a screenshot from the viral video.

• It said that a man accused in the case was identified as Arjun (21), who has been arrested under POCSO and BNS sections at the Karanprayag Police Station. The incident was from 8 August.

Details about the case: In a Facebook post shared on 8 August on Chamoli Police, it was mentioned that the complainant had said his niece had left home to go to school, but did not reach school by the scheduled time.

• The family then searched for the girl and she was found with man named Arjun Kumar (21) in an objectionable state in a room below Bhairav Temple.

• Kumar was identified as the son of Bijendra Lal, a resident of village Bagoli.

• A case was registered at the Karanprayag Police Station under different sections of the BNS and POCSO Act. Following this, Kumar was arrested.

The post was shared on 8 August.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

What did the police say?: Team WebQoof reached out to Karanprayag Station House Officer (SHO), Rakesh Chandra Bhatt, who identified the accused as Arjun Kumar. He further said that the incident had no communal angle to it.

Conclusion: It is evident that the video from Uttarakhand is being shared with a false communal spin.

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