A video showing an iftar meal being hosted in the middle of a state highway in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district has resurfaced with false claims that the incident happened in Kolkata, West Bengal.
The video shows an entire road covered with rows of chairs and tables arranged with the iftar spread, as auto rickshaws are parked in the periphery. Iftar is a meal eaten at sundown by Muslims after breaking their fast during the holy month of Ramzan.
The video is circulating with the caption that roughly translates to, "After offering namaz on the streets, here's presenting iftar party on the streets. The incident is from Kolkata, West Bengal." (Original text in Hindi: सडक पर नमाज़ के बाद पेश है सडक पर इफ्तार पार्टी* ।। वीडियो पश्चिम बंगाल के कोलकाता से है।। क्या यह सही है ?)
Click here to view the video and here for an archive of the post.
Fact Check
BOOM had earlier received the same video on its tipline number with the caption stating that the incident is from Mudipu Junction in Mangaluru, Karnataka.
Taking this as a cue, we ran a keyword search and found a news report by TV9 Kannada stating that the iftar party was organised in the middle of the road at Mudipu in Dakshina Kannada district.
According to the report, the iftar gathering was organised by Auto Rajakanmar and attended by rickshaw drivers, traders and locals.
Upon further keyword search, we found that after the video went viral, the Election Commission of India (ECI) served a notice to the organisers of the iftar party for breaking the Model Code of Conduct.
An Economic Times report stated that the incident happened in the Mudipu grama panchayat, where over 200 metres of the state highway was blocked for over four hours till 2 pm for the event on March 30.
The ECI notified the organiser of the event Abubakar Siddique, for violation of the MCC. According to the report, the Mudipu junction is a busy intersection leading to the IT hub of Dakshina Kannada district.
Further, BOOM was also able to geolocate the area in Mangaluru-Mudipu-Bakrabail Road.