The news of an attack on a Jain muni by Muslim youth was shared by several serial peddlers of fake news. Mahesh Vikram Hegde, who is the founder of fake news site PostCard News, and Gaurav Pradhan, who has been caught spreading fake news on several occasions, also put out this claim on their Twitter handles. Both Hegde and Pradhan are followed by Prime Minister Modi on Twitter.
According to Alt News, one of the first to share this information on Facebook was a person named Deepak Shetty, whose post has been shared over 6,000 times now.
This was also shared on the Facebook page of PostCard News.
According to Alt News, this was not a case of attack involving Muslim youth. Jain Muni Mayank Sagar had a minor accident in which he hurt his shoulder after being hit by a bike. The incident happened two weeks ago in Kanakapura, Karnataka. He’s been reported to have recovered from the incident.
The news was reported by Jain publication Ahinsa Kranti. The editor of the publication, Mukesh Jain, while speaking to Alt News confirmed the news posted on his website and denied the incident having anything to do with members of the Muslim community. Mayank Sagar had reached Shravanabelagola in Karnataka on 4 February for the Mahamastakabhisheka.
He was on his way back from Shravanabelagola when the accident happened. Ahinsa Kranti reported the issue on 13 March.
(The story was originally published on Alt News and has been republished with permission)
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