Amit Malviya Shares Dussehra Accident Video From Jashpur With a Communal Spin

The accused have been arrested and identified as Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Sahu.

A 25-second long video of a speeding car mowing down people is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows 'yet another' incident of communal violence in Chhattisgarh.

The incident is being connected to the one in Kawardha – where an altercation snowballed into widespread communal violence, which led to violence, vandalism and destruction of property – to say that this is an "instance of communal profiling".

However, we found that while the video is from Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh, there is no communal angle to it. It shows two people – identified as Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Sahu – ramming into revellers in Pathalgaon on Friday, 15 October. Both the accused have been arrested by the police.

CLAIM

This video was shared by the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell Amit Malviya who wrote, "A speeding vehicle runs over a Hindu religious procession in Jashpur, Chattisgarh, without any provocation whatsoever. This is a second such instance of communal profiling and assault on Hindus while CM @bhupeshbaghel is busy helping the Gandhi siblings find political ground in UP."

The same claim was copy-pasted by several users on Twitter and Facebook. An archived version can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We fragmented the video using InVID We Verify Google Chrome extension and conducted a reverse image search, which led us to multiple news reports, including that of The Quint, on this incident.

The incident happened in Pathalgaon's Jashpur district in Chhattishgarh when a speeding car rammed into a procession of Durga Puja devotees who were on their way to immerse the idol of goddess Durga.

The office of Superintendent of Police (SP) of Jashpur told news agency ANI that the two accused have been identified as Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Sahu – both residents of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh – who were passing through Chhattisgarh.

Speaking to The Quint, SP Jashpur Vijay Agrawal, confirmed that there is no communal angle to the matter and the men belonged to the Hindu community.

He further added that the two were carrying drugs in their car.

As per a report in The Hindu, the car was being driven from Odisha to Madhya Pradesh. One person died in the incident, while two others were critically injured and 15 people received minor injuries.

We also contacted a reporter on the ground who, too, said that there is no communal angle to the matter.

An FIR has been registered under Sections 302 (murder) and 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

However, it is evident that the incident is being shared with a false communal spin to it.

(With inputs from SM Hoax Slayer)

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