CLAIM
A video showing a group of Muslims beating up other men inside a shop has gone viral on social media, with the claim “एमपी.देवास - मे .रमजान में हिंदू दुकानदारों से दुकानें बंद रखने का फतवा जारी किया गया और जिसकी भी दुकान खुली मिली नमाज के बाद हमला किया जा रहा है । मेरे हिन्दू भाईयों ईसे आगे भेजते रहो कानूनी कार्यवाही हो सके नहीं तो कल अपना भी जिवन दाव पर लग सकता हे ध्यान रखें”
(Translation: “In MP’s Dewas, a fatwa was issued to Hindu shopkeepers to shut down their shops during Ramzan and any shop found open after Namaz, was being attacked. My Hindu brothers keep forwarding this so that legal action can be taken, otherwise, your own life may be on the line tomorrow.”)
The video has been viral on Facebook in the last few days.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim along with the viral video is false on two counts. First, the video is not from Madhya Pradesh as claimed, but Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut.
Second, the violence between the two groups took place over a personal dispute and not because the shop was open during Ramzan.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
A reverse image search of a screenshot from the video led us to a tweet which claimed that the video is from Bhagat Singh Market in Meerut, and asked the UP and Meerut Police to take action and punish the culprits.
The UP and Meerut police responded to the tweet, stating that they had taken cognisance of the matter and a case has been registered in the Kotwali police station.
According to Hindi daily Patrika, the incident took place on the night of 22 May in a shop named Devraj Collections in Bhagat Singh Market.
A previous fight over a personal matter between Sachin, who works at the shop, and Samar, a youth from another community led to physical violence between the two. On Friday night, Samar returned with his brothers to beat up Sachin with iron rods.
The attackers had absconded before the police arrived. The matter led to communal tensions after the video went viral on social media.
The Quint spoke to Dinesh Kumar Shukla, the Circle Officer for Kotwali Police Station who stated that the two main accused have been arrested and will be presented in Court in soon.
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