(Trigger Warning: Descriptions of rape, sexual assault. Reader discretion advised.)
News agency Asian News International (ANI), on Thursday, 20 July, put out a misleading tweet about the arrests made in the Manipur viral video case, giving the whole case a communal angle.
Manipur police, on Thursday, said that they had arrested a total of four people after a shocking video showing a mob of men, reportedly from the Meitei community, parading two Kuki-Zo women naked towards a paddy field, went viral on social media on 19 July. While the first arrested person was identified as Huirem Herodas Meitei, the remaining three were not named by the police.
What's the communal angle added to the case?: In the subsequent tweets, Manipur police also mentioned the arrest of one Abdul Hilim, a cadre of People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) from Imphal East.
However, news agency ANI linked the two cases and reported that Hilim was one of the people arrested in the viral video case.
While the news agency later deleted its tweet, several other news organisations and social media users picked the information from the agency and spread the false claim further.
What is the truth: The Imphal East District police had arrested Hilim yesterday in a completely unrelated case.
Who all fell for it?: Several media outlets like Outlook and NDTV also carried Hilim's name as one of the main accused in the viral video case.
The misleading post by ANI led to several right-wing social media users sharing the same claim, which can be seen here, here, here and here, some of whom have also been called out in the past for spreading disinformation.
What did Manipur Police actually say: We found Manipur police's tweet from 20 July, that a PREPAK pro cadre was arrested namely, Abdul Hilim by Imphal East District Police.
We also found another tweet by Manipur police from the same day about arrests made in the viral video case and it stated a different police station.
The tweet said that four main accused were arrested in the viral video case by Nongpok Sekmai police station of Thoubal District.
The Superintendent of Police (SP), Imphal West, K Meghachandra Singh, also stated in a press note on 19 July that a case of abduction, gangrape, and murder was registered at Nongpok Sekmai Police Station (Thoubal district).
The Press of Trust of India also tweeted that the main accused arrested in this case was Huirem Herodas Meitei.
The tweet also included an image this accused.
Herodas (32) of Pechi Awang Leikai is seen wearing a green shirt in the viral video.
These details about Herodas were also reported by The Quint, Hindustan Times, The Hindu and The Indian Express.
Press note by Manipur Police: A press note by Police Control Room of Manipur stated about both the different cases.
It mentioned four accused have been arrested in the viral video case but did not name anyone.
It also spoke about the arrest of one Abdul Hilim, but didn't mention anything about him being linked to the viral video case.
Confirmation from police sources: We reached out to Borun Thockchom, a local reporter from Imphal, who confirmed it with the police that two unrelated cases were being linked together.
"Abdul Hilim was associated with the militant outfit PREPAK Pro and was arrested under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), he was not involved in the viral video case," he added.
ANI apologises for claiming Muslim man's arrest: Twelve hours after posting the initial reportage, ANI tweeted that their misleading tweet was “inadvertently” posted “based on an erroneous reading of tweets posted by the Manipur police".
This is the second time a fake news reported by ANI led to furthering of a misleading claim. Earlier in the month, the news agency published a report based on a fake letter to claim that the Indigenous Tribal Leader Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of several tribal groups in Manipur, extended an apology to the Kuki-Zo community for "misguidance and conflict with Meitei people" in Manipur.
The organisation later retracted the story and issued an apology but until then, several other news publications had already published the same incorrect story.
You can read our fact-check here.
Conclusion: A misleading communal spin was added by ANI to the viral video case including Kuki women and mob of Meitei men in Manipur.
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