A photo of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Manoj Tiwari hospitalised is being shared on social media with the claim that he was beaten up.
However, we found that the claim is false and the northeast Delhi MP was injured after he was hit by a water cannon discharge while he was trying to scale a police barricade, during a protest in Delhi on 12 October over the ban on Chhath Puja in public places due to the pandemic.
CLAIM
The photo is being shared along with the claim, originally in Bhojpuri, that reads, "रिंकिया के पापा के बुरा समाचार बा, आज फिर भैया के पड़ल बहुत मार बा। प्रार्थना करिहा लोगन."
(Translation: There's bad news of Manoj Tiwari. He has been brutally thrashed today. Please pray for him.)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
Using relevant keywords, we found a news report by Hindustan Times published on 13 October that read that Tiwari was injured during a protest outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence against a ban on the celebration of Chhath Puja, a major religious festival for the Bihari community, at public places due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Quint, too, covered the news on 12 October and the report read that Tiwari was rushed to Safdarjung hospital after being hit by a water canon during a demonstration in Delhi.
Next, we found a tweet on Tiwari's Twitter handle where he had released a video on 12 October from Safdarjung hospital, where he was admitted, saying he was fine, and urged people not to spread rumours around the Chhath Puja celebrations.
"I am fine and out of danger. We all want to celebrate Chaath Puja and I request all of you to be patient and no rumours must also be spread. Our demands (to allow Chhath Puja) will continue," the BJP MP said.
We also got in touch with Neelkant Bakshi, former media relations head of Delhi BJP, who told The Quint that the claim that he was beaten up is baseless and he was injured when he fell down from the police barricades while protesting outside the Delhi CM's residence.
Clearly, a video of Tiwari who was hurt after he fell from the barricades is being circulated on social media with the false claim that he was thrashed.
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