A video of a mid-air unprovoked assault on a man by a fellow passenger is viral with a false claim that the attack is communal in nature.
BOOM found that the victim, Hussain Ahmed Majumdar, and the accused Hafizul Rehman belong to the same community. We also spoke to Kolkata police who denied any communal angle to the incident.
The Claim
The video is being shared on X with the claim, "Society has completely rotted. A hate-monger slapped a sick Muslim man on an IndiGo flight, not for breaking rules, but for being a Muslim. Hello IndiGo, this isn't a hate crime? What steps have you taken?"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
What We Found
BOOM found that the incident is from August 1, 2025, aboard an IndiGo airline Mumbai to Kolkata flight when a man slapped another passenger, without any clear provocation.
According to media reports, a passenger experiencing a panic attack was slapped by another, even as other travellers and the airline crew tried to prevent the assault.
We were able to identify the victim as Hussain Ahmed Majumdar, a resident of Assam and the accused as Hafizul Rehman. Multiple media reports called the attack unprovoked, adding that both parties were questioned. The victim Majumdar, who went missing immediately after the attack, has since been found. Indigo in a statement condemned the incident and added the accused to the airlines' no-fly list.
Speaking to BOOM, Aishwarya Sagar, DCP Airport Bidhannagar denied any communal angle to the incident. "Both passengers belong to the minority community...after an argument one of the passengers slapped the other."