Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
An image of a bloodied police uniform, belonging to ‘C Akilan,’ along with an injured man has gone viral on social media with the claim that the officer was attacked by Muslim youths at Marina Beach in Chennai.
The incident took place in 2017 and has resurfaced with a false communal spin. Mylapore’s Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Nelson, confirmed to The Quint that the attackers, identified as Dhinesh Kumar and Hariram, were actually Hindu.
CLAIM
The viral images were shared with the claim, “Assistant Inspector Akhilan, who tried to stop 3 Muslim youths in Tiruvallikeni area from abusing women under the influence of cannabis at Marina Beach, was attacked severely. Hundreds of Muslims besiege police.”
The users went on to suggest that Chennai is “becoming a Mini Pakistan.”
User Raja Hindustani’s tweet with the viral image had gained over 2,000 retweets and 2,600 likes, at the time of writing this article.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
The viral image is of an incident that took place in 2017. The constable was attacked by two Hindu men, not Muslim men, as claimed.
A reverse image search led us to a post by a Facebook page, Tamilnadu Police, which calls itself an “unauthorized page for awareness,” in its about section.
The page had posted the image on 21 August 2017, with a similar claim, calling the attackers as “enemies of the state.”
A keyword search led us to an article by The Times of India, dated 22 August 2017, which states, that the police arrested a 23-year-old man for assaulting constable Akhilan at the Marina Beach.
The constable got into a brawl with two men consuming liquor when he asked them to leave. He was also attacked by a sharp object.
Mylapore’s ACP, Nelson under whom the Marina police station falls, confirmed the details of the case with The Quint. The attackers were identified as Dhinesh Kumar and Hariram.
He also stated that they had taken cognisance of the fake news spreading on social media.
“Constable Akhilan is still working with us. The men who attacked them were actually Hindus, not Muslim men. They were arrested and charged with an attempt to murder. The case is under trial.”Nelson, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mylapore
Evidently, an old incident from 2017 has been shared with a false communal spin.
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