Fake News

Saddam, Nadim, Firoz, Aamir, Ashraf did not attack the school bus in Gurgaon

“गुड़गांव में स्कूल बस पर पथराव में करणी सेना के सद्दाम, आमिर, नदीम, फिरोज और अशरफ पकड़े गए। (Translation: In the stone pelting case on a school bus in Gurgaon, Karni Sena’s Saddam, Aamir, Nadeem, Firoz and Ashraf have been apprehended). This message is currently viral on social media. In a shocking incident, during the ongoing protests against the movie Padmavat, a school bus was attacked yesterday on Sohni Road in Gurugram.

A video of this attack went viral which showed young kids cowering in fear as the bus was being pelted by stones and caused a huge amount of outrage across the nation. Gurugram police have now arrested 18 people for this attack on the school bus. Following the arrest, a message went viral on social media claiming that 5 of the accused in this case were Saddam, Aamir, Nadeem, Firoz and Ashraf.

गुड़गांव में स्कूल बस पर पथराव में करणी सेना के सद्दाम, आमिर, नदीम, फिरोज और अशरफ पकड़े गए ।

One of the earliest to circulate this message was a person called Shalini Kapoor who claims herself to be “Khestriy Prabhari” of “Kanya Shakti Kranti” of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of BJP.

Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha

Among prominent accounts, at least three accounts whom PM Modi follows on Twitter (Jay @Saffron_RocksJitendra Pratap Singh @jpsin1 and Kunwar Ajaypratap Singh @sengarajay235) circulated this message.

Alt News spoke with Sandeep Khirwar, Commissioner of Police, Gurugram, to verify this information. He stated that the information that is being circulated on social media is absolutely false and that none of the names of the accused as being circulated on social media matches with the actual names.

This rumour is currently viral on social media and is being circulated multiple times per minute on various mediums such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. Putting out Muslim names for any upheaval in the country has become a standard diversionary tactic for many in the right-wing. In recent times, this same strategy was deployed when a Swiss Couple was attacked in Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and when an e-rickshaw driver was murdered in Delhi. Any claim that is spread about on social media following sensitive events should always be reconfirmed via official news sources and not circulated without verification. This not only makes the job of the law-enforcement agencies tougher but also polarizes the society further.

 

This piece first appeared on Alt News.

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