radiofree.asia

Violence between police and civilians in Rajasthan given false communal spin

Video footage of a mob beating two policemen has gone viral on social media. It also shows the crowd attacking another officer who tried to save his colleague. Users are sharing the visuals asking how policemen can protect Hindus in Rajasthan’s Mewat if they themselves are not safe. “Being a Hindu in a Muslim-dominated area is hellish,” the claim further says. (Archive link)

It is being suggested that a Muslim mob assaulted the police officers.

Laxmikant Bhardwaj, associated with the BJP, also posted the video. However, his caption only stated that the incident is from Mewat, Rajasthan.

Fact-check

Alt News performed a reverse image search of a still from the video, which led us to a Dainik Bhaskar story dated March 23. It states that the incident occurred in Jurhara, located near the border of Bharatpur and Haryana. A constable of the Punhana police station in Haryana came to Jurahara to investigate a case. While passing through the market, his police car collided with another vehicle. A row broke out between the policemen and the young people in the other car. The matter escalated to such an extent that the angry youths grabbed the constable and beat him up.

Bharatpur police also tweeted that the incident is from Jurahara.

We reached out to IG Prasanna Khamesra of the Bharatpur range. “This incident is from February 23. And it did occur in Jurahara town but no members of the Rajasthan police were involved. A few officers from the Haryana police had come to the town, and there is no communal angle here either. A minor girl and boy had fled to Jurahara, which the local police informed the Haryana police. When the Haryana police came to retrieve the two, their car collided with a local leader’s vehicle. The matter took a violent turn after the head constable of the Haryana police beat up one or two men. The locals retaliated by beat the policeman. The commotion was eventually resolved. Punhana SHO also reached the scene, and both sides mutually decided not to file a report,” he said.

“The online claim that Mewat police is unsafe is incorrect. There is no communal angle to the matter. We don’t look at the perpetrator’s religion, but the nature of the offence. No matter what religion or area they may be from, it is the police’s job to investigate and bring them to justice. This video is being shared on social media with a false claim,” he furthered.

ETV Haryana also covered the incident.

On March 25, a YouTube channel Republic Mewat reported about the case. The channel said that Haryana policemen collided with a Congress leader’s vehicle. This led to a skirmish where the locals began hitting the cops. We discovered that the vehicle hit by the police car belonged to Khurshid Ahmed, who served as BJP district minister from Bharatpur for 30 years and joined Congress in 2018. Alt News reached out to him. “This case is a month old and people are sharing it with false claims. There was no communal angle. My old friends who are upset because I joined Congress are sharing this, even though I was part of the BJP for 30 years. The police car collided with mine and the same people began hurling abuses at me. I won’t lie, I did the same. The matter escalated and the policeman beat up a person standing next to me. Seeing this, Hindu bystanders from nearby shops also came and began beating the policemen. Both parties got physical,” he explained.

A month-old clip was shared online with the false claim that the local police were under threat and being attacked in the Muslim-majority area of Mewat.

The post Violence between police and civilians in Rajasthan given false communal spin appeared first on Alt News.

This post was originally published on Alt News.