Video of Mob Attacking a Car in Bihar Shared With False Communal Spin

The video of a Muharram procession attacking a car from Katihar, Bihar was shared with a false communal angle.

A video showing an SUV stuck in the middle of a procession being attacked by a mob, armed with sticks and stones, was shared across social media platforms.

The clip was shared claiming that Muslims who were a part of a Muharram procession surrounded the SUV, which had a Hindu family inside, attacking the vehicle and its passengers, who were returning from a visit to the doctor.

However, we found that the claim is false and that there is no communal angle to the incident. The video of the vehicle being attacked in the Muharram procession is from Bihar's Katihar and the passengers in the vehicle were identified as from the Muslim community as well.

CLAIM

The video was shared on social media platforms, claiming that the Muslim crowd gathered for a Muharram procession turned violent when the SUV came in their midst and attacked the vehicle and the Hindu persons in it, without any concern that the occupants were returning from a doctor's visit.

There were different versions of the claim, which gave the incident a communal angle.

More claims on Facebook and Twitter can be seen here, here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Using InVID, we divided the video into keyframes and ran reverse image searches on them. The results led us to news reports by Dainik Bhaskar and ETV Bharat, both of which carried visuals from the video.

As per Dainik Bhaskar's report, the incident occurred near Musapur in Bihar's Katihar, where an SUV was trying to go past a Muharram procession. The report identified the passengers of the car as a family belonging to the Muslim community.

Etv Bharat's reporter spoke to one of the passengers named Masood Alam, who told them that he was returning from Purnia with his mother when he asked for some space for the car to pass. He added that the people got angry and took his mobile phone and stole Rs 7,000 from his brother.

We contacted Katihar police, where we spoke to Sub Divisional Police officer (SDPO) Amarkant Jha who confirmed that both – the passengers in the car and the ones who attacked – were from the Muslim community.

"The matter is under control now. We filed three cases and arrested 29 people. The procession did not have any government permission."

SDPO Amarkant Jha, Katihar Police

Evidently, a video of a crowd attacking an SUV in Katihar, Bihar was shared with a false communal spin saying that the Muslim crowd attacked a Hindu family's vehicle.

(With inputs from Abhilash Mallick)

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