Video Of Violence In Kawardha, Chhattisgarh Falsely Shared As Of Uttar Pradesh

A video of a group of men carrying saffron flags and chanting Jai Sri Ram is shared on social media. It shows the mob creating a stir on the street by throwing utensils and vandalising parked vehicles.

The video is being shared claiming that the mob, which included members of Sri Bajrang Sena, and other Hindu organisations, are retaliating after Muslims entered a Durga Puja pandal in the Lalganj town of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and stopped the Puja.

A Facebook user 'भगवा भारत' posted the video and captioned it in Hindi. While writing this report, his post has garnered around 5.7K views. The caption reads, "जब तक हिन्दू शांत है तब तक शान्ति है और अगर हमारे धर्म पर प्रहार होगा तो तांडव मचा देंगे। प्रतापगढ़ जिले के लालगंज कस्बे मेदुर्गा पूजा के पंडाल में घुस कर मुस्लिम समुदाय के लोगो ने पूजा बंद करवा दी और मां दुर्गा का पताका निकाल कर फेंक दिया, उसके बाद श्री बजरंग सेना के कुछ सदस्य ओर हिंदू संगठन के लोग सक्रिय हो गए, एक एक मुस्लिम को उनके घरों से निकाल कर बुरी तरह पीटा, मस्जितों के झंडे उखाड़ कर फेंक दिए गए कारों व मोटर साइकिलों को तोड़ फोड़ दिया गया, समस्त मुस्लिम समुदाय थाने में शरण लिए हुए है, उक्त घटना पर मुख्य मंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ ने हर्ष व्यक्त करते हुए युवा हिंदुओ को बधाई दी, जय श्री राम!"

[English translation: As long as Hindus are peaceful, there is peace, and if our religion is attacked, we will create a rampage. After entering the Durga Puja pandal in Lalganj town of Pratapgarh district, Muslims stopped the Puja and took out the flag of Maa Durga and threw it. After that, some members of Shri Bajrang Sena and the people of the Hindu organisation became active. Every Muslim was thrown out of their homes and beaten, cars and motorcycles were damaged, the flags of mosques were vandalised. The entire Muslim community was taking shelter in the police station. Expressing happiness on the said incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated the young Hindus, Long live Rama!]

A Twitter user Sujeet Singh Gahlot Kanpur%FB posted the video and captioned it in Hindi. While writing this report, his post has garnered around 4.1K views. The caption reads, "प्रतापगढ़ जिले के लालगंज कस्बे में दुर्गा पूजा के पंडाल में घुस कर मुस्लिम समुदाय के लोगो ने पूजा बंद करवा दी और मां दुर्गा का पताका निकाल कर फेंक दिया, उसके बाद हिंदू संगठन सक्रिय हो गए, एक एक मुस्लिम को उनके घरों से निकाल कर बुरी तरह पीटा, मस्जितों के झंडे उखाड़ कर फेंक दिए गए".

[English translation: After entering the Durga Puja pandal in Lalganj town of Pratapgarh district, the Muslim community people stopped the worship and threw away the flag of Maa Durga. After that, the Hindu organisations became active, taking every Muslim out of their homes and beat them up. The flags of mosques were uprooted and thrown away.]

The video is widely shared on Facebook and Twitter.

Claim:

Hindus beat Muslims after Muslims created ruckus in a Durga puja pandal in the Lalganj town of Pratapgarh district in UP.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim and found it to be false. The video is from Kawardha town of Kabirdham district in Chhattisgarh.

We carefully watched the video and noticed that a vehicle's number plate is clearly visible in a frame when the mob is vandalising and inverting the cars parked on the street. The number starts with "CG-04-HD". We searched the vehicle's details and found that car was registered in the Regional Transport Office of Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

We searched on the internet using specific keywords and found a Facebook post by Hyderabad Youth Courage of 6 October. They had posted the viral video with the title, "Chattisgarh Me Musalmano ke ghar aur Karobar Ko nishana banaya gaya." [English translation: Muslim homes and businesses were targeted in Chhattisgarh.]

We found a Twitter post by Pratapgarh Police of 13 October. They replied to the viral video shared by another user in Hindi. They wrote, "जनपद प्रतापगढ़ के थानाक्षेत्र लालगंज में इस प्रकार की कोई घटना नही घटित हुई है, वीडियो/खबर को गलत तरीके से थानाक्षेत्र लालगंज से सम्बन्धित बताकर वायरल किया गया है, भ्रामक/गलत खबर फैलाने वाले के विरूद्ध सुसंगत धाराओं में अभियोग पंजीकृत कर विधिक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।"

We have registered a case against people spreading false/misleading information under relevant sections and took legal action.

[English translation: No such incident has happened in the police station area Lalganj of Pratapgarh district. The video/news has been viral, wrongly stating that it is related to the Lalganj.]

We also found a Twitter post by UP Police Fact Check of 13. The post carried a screengrab of the shared video and was captioned in Hindi. They wrote, "दिनांक 05.10.2021 को कवर्धा, छत्तीसगढ़ में हुई घटना को भ्रामक रूप से उ०प्र० प्रतापगढ़ की घटना के रूप में दुष्प्रचारित किये जाने के सम्बन्ध में @pratapgarhpol द्वारा खण्डन कर मुकदमा पंजीकृत किया गया है।"

[English translation: A case has been registered against those spreading disinformation by representing the incident of Kawardha, Chhattisgarh on 05.10.2021 as the incident of Uttar Pradesh Pratapgarh @pratapgarhpol]

We looked for media reports on the 5 October incident in Kawardha town of Chhattisgarh. An excerpt from the Indian Express report read, "An altercation over two flags, one saffron and the other green, developed into 48 hours of communal tensions, and finally burst forth in vandalism and extensive damage to property in Chhattisgarh's Kabirdham district on 5 October."

To sum up, a video of violence on 5 October in Kawardha town of Kabirdham district in Chhattisgarh is shared with a false claim that the incident happened in Lalganj town of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. Later, the violence led to the imposition of a curfew in Kawardha.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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