No, This Video Doesn’t Show Yogi Adityanath Applying Cop’s Ashes on His Forehead

The video shows Yogi Adityanath smearing ashes on his forehead after the Holika Dahan ritual.

A video of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath applying ashes picked up from a pyre is being shared on social media.

What is the claim? Social media users are claiming that the ashes were from the funeral pyre of a police constable who was killed during an encounter with one of the shooters who killed Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder case of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator Raju Pal.

(Archives of more claims can be seen here, here and here.)

But...?: The video dates back to March 2022 and shows Adityanath smearing ashes from a Holika pyre.

How did we find out?: Using relevant keywords, we looked for the video on social media.

• We came across a similar video shared by Prachi Sadhvi on 22 March, 2022.

हमारे सनातन की परंम्परा है होलिका की राख ठंढी होने के बाद उसे माथे पे लगाते हैं 🙏🚩 @myogiadityanath जी pic.twitter.com/G8gldCeTHl

— Dr. Prachi Sadhvi (@Sadhvi_prachi) March 22, 2022

• It was shared with text that mentioned it showed UP CM Adityanath smearing ashes on his forehead after the ritual of Holika Dahan, which involves burning a pyre the night before the Hindu festival of Holi.

• We came across an article by ETV Bharat, which mentioned the ritual of smearing Holika Dahan ashes on the forehead before celebrating Holi.

• While we could not verify the date on which the video was shot, we can confirm that it is an old one.

• Hindi news organisation Live Hindustan carried a photo of Adityanath applying Holika ashes to his forehead in 2020, mentioning that he tossed them into the air to mark the celebration.

Umesh Pal murder case: Umesh Pal was a witness to the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Raju Pal, which took place in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj in 2005.

The former was shot by six people on 24 February, and two police personnel on Pal's security duty succumbed to their injuries.

Conclusion: An old video of UP CM Yogi Adityanath is being incorrectly linked to the Umesh Pal murder case.

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