Video From Meerut Falsely Linked to Jawan's Death During Kanwar Yatra in Roorkee

The video is from Meerut, and in the fight between two groups of kanwariyas, no fatalities were reported.

The claims state that the video showed fighting between two groups of Kanwariyas, leading to the death of Army jawan in Uttarakhand.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video that shows some people fighting and beating a youth, is being shared on social media with the claim that it showed fighting between two groups of kanwariyas, which led to the death of an army man named Kartik Baliyan in Roorkee, Haridwar district.

The video is being shared in the backdrop of the death of a soldier, identified as Kartik Baliyan, from Uttar Pradesh's Sisauli on 26 July, who was on a visit to Haridwar as a kanwariya, after two groups of kanwariyas clashed in Roorkee. He was declared brought dead at the hospital.

However, we found that the video is from Meerut district where a fight broke out between two groups of kanwariyas, and has nothing to do with the death of Kartik Baliyan.

CLAIM

'The video is being shared along with the claim in Hindi that reads, "*रुड़की के मंगलौर इलाके में यूपी-हरियाणा के कांवड़ियों में संघर्ष। सिर में डंडा लगने से मुजफ्फरनगर में सिसौली के कांवड़िए कार्तिक बालियान की मौत। वह सेना में फौजी भी था। डाक कांवड़ आगे निकालने को लेकर विवाद हुआ था।*''

(Translation: Clash erupted between kanwariyas of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in Manglaur area of ​​Roorkee. Kartik Baliyan from Sisauli died due to head injury. He was with the Indian Army. There was a dispute regarding the race between Dak Kanwar.)

Dak kanwariyas are a category of kanwariyas who are committed to finishing the entire pilgrimage within 24 hours, which involves collecting Ganga water and offering it at a Shiva temple near home. In this period, they neither eat or sleep.

An archive of the tweet can be seen here. 

More archived links can be seen here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We searched on Twitter with keywords, and found several users saying that the video is from Meerut.

Taking this as a cue, we conducted a keyword search on Google and found a news report published in the Hindi daily Amar Ujala on 25 July. We found a screenshot of the viral video on the report.

The report read that traders of Bulandshahr in Kharkhoda area on Hapur Road in Meerut district had set up a Kanwar Seva camp. Another group of kanwariyas from Basatpur, a village in Hapur, was also passing, who played loud music.

Both the groups got into a competition of playing loud music, and it lasted for about two hours. However, later it ended into a fight between the two groups of kanwariyas, it read.

The report was published on 25 July. 

Next, we searched on YouTube, and found the video published on the official YouTube handle of Punjab Kesari UP on 26 July.

We made a side-by-side comparison of the two videos.

Viral video (L), Screengrab from Punjab Kesari UP (R). 

Further, we spoke to Inspector Jitendra posted at Kharkhoda police station, who rubbished the claim.

He said, "It is true that fighting did take place between two groups of kanwariyas, but the claim is false, and it has nothing to do with the death of Kartik Baliyan. In this incident, no one had major injuries, and police had reached the spot and pacified both the parties."

Clearly, a video from Meerut is being shared with the false claim that it was related to the death of the Army jawan in UP.

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