Clip of BJP Leader Thrashing Disabled Man for Supporting SP is Old

The clip dates back to 2018 when BJP Leader Mohammad Miya assaulted Manoj Gujjar for saying he would vote for SP.

A video of an ABP News bulletin, which shows a man shoving a cane into another man's face, is being shared across social media. The news anchor states that the man was a Bharatiya Janata Party member from Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh who assaulted a disabled man for saying that the Samajwadi Party would come to power in the state.

The clip is being shared to claim that there is no freedom in Uttar Pradesh anymore, as even disabled people get beaten up for uttering the name of the Samajwadi Party. This comes ahead of the upcoming elections in the state.

However, we found that the clip is an old one from 2018, and is not a recent incident. News reports identified the BJP leader as one Mohammad Miya from Amroha, who claimed that he had acted against the disabled man for making comments against UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

CLAIM

The Hindi text shared with the video claims that the situation in Uttar Pradesh is worse than the emergency period in India, as a BJP leader assaulted a disabled man with a cane for saying that he would vote for the Samajwadi Party in the elections.

The video was shared with the same claim by IP Singh, National spokesperson for the Samajwadi Party, and added that “Yogi means the rule of hooligans”.

The clip is being shared in posts across Facebook and Twitter, archives of which can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Using relevant keywords, we looked for the ABP News report and came across one published on 25 December 2018. The Hindi report noted that the man, identified as BJP leader Mohammad Miya attacked a disabled man after he repeatedly said that he would vote for Akhilesh Yadav.

The report further notes that when journalists standing near the area tried to intervene, they were also mistreated.

Another report by NDTV India noted that as per Miya’s statement, the man raising the slogans was inebriated when he made rude remarks against the Prime Minister and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

A Times of India report stated that the incident occurred on Monday, 24 December 2018.

It identified the disabled man as 22-year-old Manoj Gujjar and reported that an inebriated Gujjar saw BJP leaders and raised slogans supporting SP, and went on to speak against PM Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

Infuriated by his actions, Miya took out a cane from his vehicle and assaulted the youth.

Speaking to TOI, Sambhal superintendent of police Yamuna Prasad said that Miya had “criminal antecedents” and was a “known history-sheeter at Asmoli police station”. He added that Gujjar was taken into custody and that no member of Gujjar’s family had visited the police station.

TOI further stated that Gujjar was released from jail the next evening.

Clearly, a three-year-old video of a BJP leader beating up a disabled man with a cane for supporting the Samajwadi Party was shared on social media as a recent incident, ahead of the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh.

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